The Eastern Mediterranean has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity as a superyacht destination over the past decade, and an exciting new superyacht conference in Athens is set to consolidate this growing role of the Eastern Med as a yachting hub.
With taxation tightening across the Western Med, and incredible cruising opportunities and new marinas drawing growing numbers of yachts to the sparkling shores of the Aegean, Adriatic, and Ionian Seas, the Eastern Mediterranean is really beginning to stamp its authority on the yachting map.
The East Mediterranean Superyacht Forum is a one-day conference held in Athens on June 1st to promote and discuss the Eastern Mediterranean’s ever-increasing influence and potential as a yachting destination, with topics including marina development, cruising grounds, charter opportunities, cabotage in Greece, and various taxation and regulation matters across the Mediterranean. The conference, which will take place at the NJV Athens Plaza Hotel, will also address global factors affecting the superyacht industry, including geopolitical trends impacting the industry and global superyacht sales and forecasts.
The East Mediterranean Superyacht Forum is produced by premier yacht management company OCEDA in partnership with Quaynote Communications, the company which delivers the acclaimed ‘Opportunities in Superyachts’ conference in Malta. The prestigious event will be chaired by Michael Dunkerly from Tethys Equity, OCEDA’s sister company involved in marina development in the region.
As Lorna Titley, Director of Quaynote explains in an OnboardOnline article, “The aim of the conference is to bring what is happening in the East Med to the attention of an international superyacht audience. The programme will look at what the region has to offer owners and charterers and will compare chartering restrictions in Greece with those in other jurisdictions.”
The East Mediterranean Superyacht Forum will bring together a wealth of expertise, with an impressive lineup of speakers from across the superyacht industry, including Vassilis Fotilas, Commercial Director at Fraser Yachts; Michel Chryssicopoulos, Partner at IYC; Paul Cook, General Manager, OneOcean Port Vell; James Lawson, Partner at Hill Dickinson, Kemal Saatcioglu CEO of D-Marin Marinas Group; and Captain Mark Souter, M/Y Guilty.
There will also be discussion about the challenges, taxes, and legalities of superyacht cruising across the Mediterranean, with a high profile panel including Aris Geronymakis, Attorney at Geronymakis & Partners Law Office, Carla Bellieni of Studio Piana Illuzzi Queirolo Trabattoni and Captain Andrija Simic, of Adriatic Yachting Alliance.
The East Mediterranean Superyacht Conference will consolidate on the existing impacts on the superyacht industry and look to build on the superb potential of this region as a yachting hub to rival the West Med. The conference is timely, with Alison Singhal, co-Director saying, “The time is now right, with a lot of interest being shown in the East Med region by the industry at large, increased activity in the region’s marina sector, and local companies having a huge amount of knowledge and expertise to share.”
As taxation tightens across the Western Mediterranean and yacht owners and charterers look for new experiences and destinations, the Eastern Mediterranean’s stunning cruising grounds become ever more attractive to the superyacht fraternity.
Yacht captains, owner’s representatives, yacht managers, brokers, associations, marina operators and others with an interest in the potential of Eastern Europe as a superyacht hub would do well to attend the industry’s newest superyacht conference in Athens.
