Carlos Sanlorenzo, general secretary of Spanish marine association, ANEN, has  said that he is hopeful his country’s leisure marine sector will recover from the impact of the Covid pandemic as vaccine rollouts begin to gather momentum in mainland Europe. 

With the optimistic forecast that vaccination will reach a significant percentage of the Spanish and European population by May, he anticipates that the 2021 season will exceed the reasonably good data from last year.

“After the sharp drop that occurred in April and May last year, activity progressively picked up until September. The 2020 season was short but very intense and the companies in the sector, with exceptions as in all sectors, have closed the year with reasonably positive data,” he claimed. “But what is most encouraging is that demand has started to reactivate again in February this year, with orders sometimes exceeding stock levels.”

Initiatives to attract international nautical tourism

The positive forecasts are being supported by promotional plans that ANEN is developing to reboot the entry of international leisure marine tourists when safety protocols allow. The most significant is the collaboration ANEN has established with Turespaña – recreational boating is now part of the Spanish tourist offer Turespaña promotes in neighbouring European markets.

“We are going to jointly coordinate a series of promotions aimed at countries such as Germany, Italy, the UK and the Netherlands, and we are going to provide them with promotional materials, specifically designed to attract nautical tourists from these countries.”

As for the reactivation of nautical events such as the Barcelona Boat Show, Sanlorenzo remains philosophical.

“All business activity, both in nautical and in other sectors, will depend on the rate of vaccination and on the improvement of the pandemic situation.

“I want to think that, from this summer, the possibilities of traveling, of holding face-to-face meetings in a safe way will improve and, therefore, they will allow us to organize nautical events again. But I also believe that the formats of these meetings will be different because they will have to adapt to the new ways of establishing business relationships that were already emerging and that in the last year have developed much more quickly.

“This does not mean that everything will be virtual however…. according to a survey carried out by ANEN last December, companies in the nautical sector in Spain continue to place a premium on face-to-face meetings. But I envisage a combination of virtual formats and face-to-face fairs, and spaces for smaller gatherings. Overall I am confident that the good forecasts for the next nautical season will positively affect all activities.”