Cannes Yachting Festival announces record attendance in 2021

Following a two-year absence, the 2021 Cannes Yachting Festival brought together 575 exhibitors, 620 boats and 54,400 visitors, 50% of which were from abroad. The 2021 edition visitor numbers are identical to those of the 2019 edition, which was a record year.

Despite the travel restrictions the current health situation imposed for certain countries, the festival not only welcomed clients from Europe, but visitors from all over the world who came to admire the best there is in French and international motor, sailing, monohull or multihull boats.

The record year closed on 12^th September following six days of exhibiting, and was buoyed by energy and enthusiasm shared by all the exhibitors, visitors, partners, service providers and organisers. The festival managed to be successfully built in a difficult context throughout the year and offer a wealth of content in terms of the number of brands, new products and types of boat, product and service available.

Sylvie Ernoult, director of the Cannes Yachting Festival, commented, “Our – ambitious – aim for the festival which was prepared while COVID is still here was to do as well as the 2019 edition in terms of the number of exhibitors, boats and visitors. If the total number of exhibitors (-7%) and boats (-4%) was slightly down on 2019, the number of boats presented as world previews was up by 10% and the number of visitors was the same which is very positive during this time. We are proud of and happy with these results.”

The Yachting Festival was distributed between both of Cannes’ ports for the second time, the Vieux Port and Port Canto, with the Vieux Port being entirely dedicated to those in the motor industry and the new sailing boats being moored in Port Canto. Port Canto also welcomed the Innovation Space, in partnership with Mer Angels and BNP Paribas Banque Privée, to showcase “intelligent” start-ups in the nautical sector.

The nautical sector has been becoming aware of the consequences of its activity on the environment, and despite restrictive international rules aiming to protect natural environments, change has remained slow. To contribute to this eco-friendly transition, this year the festival proposed a green circuit, showcasing more than 50 exhibitors developing or presenting a concept in favour of ecology.

The Cannes Yachting Festival has also undertaken an ecological transition by improving its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) through implementing new actions to reduce its event activity’s environmental impact, including paperless copies of tickets and the use of recyclable materials throughout the festival.

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