It’s been another busy year for TransEurope boaters, with an increase in the number of visits between members and nearly 6000 visitor nights registered on the Pick a Pier platform. Some of the most central visitor destinations in the UK and France received well over 300 associated boaters across the course of the season. It was also very inspiring to see some long-distance cruising with members from the Baltic travelling down to Brittany and across to the UK, with another Belgian boater heading over to the Aegean.
We are increasing our destination network in the Adriatic, with two new members joining this year from Croatia (Mitan Marina) and Montenegro (Marina Lazure). Two further new members include Huelva’s first urban marina (Marina del Odiel) and Port d’Étaples-sur-mer in France.
Members have also been busy in ICOMIA committees, with the start of the new ICOMIA Diversity Committee and helping out with next year’s exciting World Marinas Conference, set to be held in member facility Venezia Certosa Marina.
There have been interesting discussions within the ICOMIA Smart Marinas Group, led by Pick a Pier’s Idan Cohen. Participants stressed the importance of pilot projects, clear ROI-focused cases, and standardisation to overcome cost and integration barriers.
Members have had plenty of opportunities to network in person, with meetings and informal get-togethers at boot Düsseldorf, on the TYHA stand at the Southampton International Boat Show and recently at this November’s well-attended METSTRADE.
We said farewell and thanks to previous Chair, Jean-Michel Gaigné and welcomed new Chair, Maarten Desloveere, manager at VY Nieuwpoort. Autumn has also seen us kick-start our new training bursary initiative with two applicants obtaining their Advanced Marina Management certification and plenty of interest for next year.
Finally, we have been progressing well with the LandSeaLot Horizon Europe project, learning a lot along the way and anticipating som exciting opportunities for Seine-based marinas in the spring. Watch this space!!
Wishing you all a marvellous festive season and the very best for 2025. Happy Holidays from the TransEurope Marinas family!
