SUBSTANTIAL EXPANSION FOR EUROPORT ISTANBUL 2009

There is such massive interest in participating in Europort Istanbul 2009 that an extra hall has to be added to the exhibition area. It is the 10^th time that the maritime exhibition has been held and it has proved itself to be the business platform for the ship building industry in Turkey. Around 530 national and international brands are represented at Europort Istanbul 2009, giving both shipyards and suppliers an opportunity to present themselves. Thanks to this wide ranging and complex exhibition programme, the trade show takes a unique and dominant position on the international show calendar for maritime exhibitions within this region.

Promising

Europort Istanbul 2009 has the exclusive support of the Turkish Chamber of Shipping (TCS) and can look forward to a great deal of support from the local, maritime sector. Serkan Tiglioglu, managing director of NTSR in Turkey, together with Ahoy Rotterdam organiser of this exhibition: “Ship building in our country is making rapid progress and Europort Istanbul 2009 focuses on the need to do business on an international level, making new contacts and getting orders. Interest in participation increases every year and the outlook for Europort Istanbul 2009 is also very promising. Thanks to the extra hall (3,000 m²) which we are adding to the exhibition area, we now have a total of over 17,000 m² available to us. We need this space for our loyal participants as well as for many newcomers.”

Perfect location

The Istanbul Expo Center has new halls, spacious parking, modern facilities and is also easily reached by plane. “We want to be able to offer our exhibitors and visitors a professional entourage that is in line with the illustrious status of our event. This exhibition centre exactly meets the appearance and requirements that we, as exhibition organisers, set for the location of our events. Besides this, this perfect location, being close to the international airport and Tuzla, one of the most important ship building centres in Turkey, is a real advantage for Europort Istanbul”, according to Gert-Jan van den Nieuwenhoff, General Manager Business to Business Events from Ahoy Rotterdam.

New customers

Previous Europort Istanbul events have shown that the exhibitors always do great business there. This is confirmed by Jack Kobelt from Kobelt Manufacturing who thinks the quality of the visitors is precisely what gives Europort its strength: “We have been exhibiting at Europort in Holland and Istanbul for many years. We find Europort the most rewarding exhibition pertaining to work boats, government ships and boats. We find the clientele far more responsive than any other boat show catering to the same marine sector.”

International character

At Europort Istanbul 2007 the exhibitors from 30 countries represented a total of 531 brands. The high quality audience was comprised of professionals working in sectors including: ship building, design, repair, maintenance, management, fishing, coastal navigation, port services, government and technical services. The trade visitors originated from as many as 35 countries. As a result, Europort Istanbul has a strongly international character that reaches further than just Turkey and also focuses on the surrounding countries. Western European and Asian countries also realise that they can no longer ignore Turkey now that the country has rapidly taken 5^th position in the worldwide ship building industry. That can also be seen in the list of participants, where it is clear that brands from the whole world will want to be present at Europort Istanbul.

Country pavilions

At Europort Istanbul 2009 companies from different countries can bundle their forces in a collective presentation. The Netherlands, Romania and Korea have confirmed that they will have a country pavilion and the British companies are also expected to present themselves collectively.

Henk Gennissen from the association Holland Marine Equipment is the coordinator of the Dutch pavilion. “Participating in Europort Istanbul is really important because it is the maritime exhibition where you can find representatives from all the shipyards from Turkey and other up and coming ship building regions such as Bulgaria, Romania, the Ukraine, Greece and the Arabian Gulf. We will also, therefore, be present with a prominent 200m² pavilion at Europort Istanbul 2009” says Gennissen.

The list of large companies that have already confirmed their individual participation includes; Germanischer Lloyd AG, Heinen Hopman, Hempel, Jotun, Kral AG, MTU, Niveko (Mak and Caterpillar), PE-GU (Sandfirden, Scania, Sisu diesel, Becker, Thordon) and Westfalia.

Europort Istanbul 2009

Europort Istanbul will be organised by Ahoy Rotterdam and NTSR International Exhibition and Congress Organisation in exclusive cooperation with the Turkish Chamber of Shipping. Ahoy Rotterdam is well known in the maritime industry as the organiser of Europort in Rotterdam. NTSR is the organiser of the International Istanbul Boat Show.

Europort Istanbul will be held from 25-28 March 2009 at the Istanbul Expo Center
(Hall 9-10-11). More information about Europort Istanbul can be found on
www.europort-istanbul.com