More than 10,000 visitors went to the four-day inaugural Gibraltar International Boat Show and several million pounds-worth of yacht sales were secured. May 2010 is already penciled in for the follow-up.

John Wood, Boat Show Organiser comments, “Putting on the first International Boat Show in Gibraltar was always going to be a challenge, but positive feedback from sponsors, exhibitors, the Government and visitors has been exceptional so we’re already making plans for next year with great excitement. We had a hunch that larger national events in Madrid and Barcelona were not only geographically distant from southern Iberia but also slightly impersonal in terms of matching local needs and it seems that our preconceptions were accurate. Sales and prospects across the board from yacht brokers to associated marine services and peripheral industries from supercars to residential property have exceeded expectations giving us a solid platform for 2010.”