Global boat show wraps up with success

SUWON, South Korea, June 13 (Yonhap) -- An international boat show has ended with success in a port southwest of Seoul, attracting millions of visitors and creating business opportunities for marine leisure companies at home and abroad.
The Korea International Boat Show 2011 (KIBS), which took place in waters off Hwaseong, 45 kilometers southwest of Seoul, ended its five-day run on Sunday successfully, the event's organizer said Monday.
The boat fair, which marked its fourth year, lured an estimated 120,000 visitors and sealed trade contracts worth around 60 billion won (US$55 million), according to the organizer. This year's result far outperformed those of the past three years, which had seen trade contracts totaling 3.4 billion won.
The organizer said the 366 companies that participated in the five-day event increased the quality of the global boat show. Top market players such as France's Beneteau, Australia's Bellingham Marine and the United States' Larson and Cobalt took part in this year's event.
Helped by its improved quality, KIBS earned final approval for international certification at an International Federation of Boat Show Organizers (IFBSO) meeting held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
With the accreditation, KIBS became the fourth boat show in Asia to be certified by the IFBSO, after shows in Yokohama, Dubai and Shanghai, the organizer said.
Meanwhile, a Swedish skipper sailed to the championship at the Korea Match Cup 2011, an international yacht tournament held on the sidelines of KIBS. Sweden's Bjorn Hansen, the world's eighth-ranked yacht sailor, earned the victory after beating 12th-ranked Francesco Bruni of Italy.