After Pascal Alix-Laborde, visiting the Nautic last Monday, it was Yawo Nyuiadzi's turn to visit the Métimer team at the Paris nautical show.
Despite the chaotic situation outside and the difficulties of accessing the nautical show, Porte de Versailles, visitors to the Métimer stand were very numerous this week.
The team of volunteers - Florence, Antoine, Alexina and Bulent - gives a smile to the many people interested in boating in Saint Martin. The questions are varied, from a simple desire to know more to the desire to invest in the economy of the island. Some of these visitors already know Saint Martin well and were received by Bulent Gulay, president of Métimer, and Laurent Fuentes, in charge of economic development at the Collectivity. The appointments were made for the end of January 2020 in Saint Martin. Vice-president Yawo Nyuiadzi, who came to support the team on the stand where the Tourist Office, the CCISM and the Collectivity of Saint-Martin are represented, was able to appreciate the work carried out for the design of the space, located in the main hall. A little later, the vice-president of the Tourist Office, Alex Pierre, joined the team for a complete visit of the boat show, where he could discover the modern world of boating in its grandeur and its diversity.
• Creation of a nautical commission
Yawo Nyuadzi met Loïc Bonnet, the CEO of Dream Yacht Charter, who told him of his firm resolution to strengthen the nautical base of Saint-Martin, provided that the community works in this direction with regard to marinas. Same echo at Sunsail and Moorings, who are just waiting to invest in their fleets. This very revealing visit ended with an interview on the booth of the Federation of Nautical Industries (FIN), which again this year offered a booth to Métimer, proving its confidence and support for the association which has been working for almost 20 years for the development of water sports in Saint-Martin. Armed with all this information, the vice-president undertook to make the community more interested in boating and consolidate this sector, with the creation of a commission for the development of boating from the start of 2020 , under the aegis of the Economic Development Agency (ADE) recently created by the community. Bulent Gulay, president of Métimer, said he was very satisfied with the participation of community players, who could see the accumulated delay with regard to boating, and made the firm decision to work with professionals from the sea. to relaunch boating in Saint-Martin. Métimer still has a few days of work in the cold, but the will to move forward warms the hearts of the volunteers who are involved. Their mission did not go unnoticed by the nautical press and its journalists, many of whom came to interview Bulent Gulay and his team.
>> Boating in 2020
The rental of modern and comfortable charter catamarans represents a potential of 500 rooms.
For Métimer, Saint-Martin has everything to gain by taking into account the novelties offered in the nautical world and exhibited at the Nautic. In 2019, the boat rental sector is up 60% compared to 2018 and the order books are already full for 2020, for customers with high purchasing potential. The success of catamarans receiving 6 to 10 people in complete comfort represents a complementary vacation mode to the hotel industry, with an equivalent of 500 cabins, which are as many rooms. Many boats are now fitted with various propulsion systems - hybrid, electric, solar - and these modern, energy-efficient engines represent a lesser source of pollution. These vessels are called upon to replace the charter fleets awaiting the reopening of damaged marinas. At the same time, the boat show has very simple structures for the installation of removable swimming pools, which can also serve as a learning base for paddle boarding or surfing, at a low cost of realization. This installation is already planned in Saint Martin and is just waiting to find the land necessary for its realization. There is also a whole range of non-motorized water sports and leisure equipment, at very reasonable costs, which would be an added value for nautical clubs which the island does not have, with the exception of private centers offering services. personalized with reduced means. Saint-Martin needs to open up more to boating, find land to install nautical bases, invest in the immediate but already think about the future, in order to create modern infrastructures allowing to increase the offer to investors, very attracted by our destination.
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