The ICOMIA World Marinas Conference started on Monday at the Tivoli Conference Centre in Vilamoura, Portugal, organised by the Portuguese Association of Ports and Marinas .

The opening session was attended by Maria do Céu Antunes. the Portuguese Minister of Agriculture and Food, the Secretary of State for Fisheries, the Vice-Mayor of Loulé, and the president of the Algarve Tourism Board, among other national entities.

The President of APPR, Isolete Correia, opened the conference presenting the conclusions of a survey carried out to quantify the evolution of the marina sector in Portugal in terms of revenue, strengths and challenges.

Portugal has around 12 thousand berths, a third of them in the Algarve, and occupancy rates are around 90%. The value of revenues for marinas and recreational ports was an estimated 60 million euros for the year 2022, a growth of 19% comparing to 2021. From the beginning of this year until 31 July, the total revenue continued to grow above 10% with revenues expected to exceed 70 million euros at the end of 2023. Visitors are mainly from Portugal, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, and Spain.

Between 2019 and 2022, the annual average turnover of recreational and sports boat builders in Portugal was around 137 million euros, a 47% increase from 2018. This data shows there is a clear sign of growth of the recreational marine industry in Portugal.

The day continued with a highly anticipated keynote speech from Bill Yeargin on the ‘Economics of Culture’. Bill is the CEO of Correct Craft and a hugely successful inspirational author, writer and speaker. Bill’s books include the popular Making Life Better: The Correct Craft Story and Education of a CEO: Lessons for Leaders.

Following Bill was a moderated panel on the state of the marina industry around the world with a number of speakers highlighting sustainability issues such as potentials for decarbonisation, sustainable best practices and marine protected areas.

After lunch there was a number of shorter talks on operational and economic topics. One of the group of talks covered operational challenges and mitigations, another about finding your niche in the marina world and the final group covered sustainable innovations.

The last panel of the afternoon was dedicated to R&D and Sustainable Innovation, and included representatives from the University of the Algarve.

The first day of the conference ended with an incredible sunset and cocktails at Puro Beach Club, Vilamoura.