Sail-World.com : MBN Editorial
I watched a doco on TV the other night about modern piracy and couldn’t get over the costs – in terms of human life and commercial risk – so I looked into the phenomenon.
It’s rife in Africa, Asia and increasingly, other waters including our own, as tankers, liners, cruisers and private vessels are highjacked for their freight or the value of their crews for ransom.
And to think, there are no accurate figures on the prevalence and cost of piracy! Some estimates place its cost (no doubt passed on to consumers and insurance premiums) at more than $16bn.
Another astounding fact, relating to a lack of figures, is the dearth of solid information on imports, the local market and trends in the marine industry, which Grow Boating had just started to assemble as a resource for our manufacturing industry.
Let’s hope the next incarnation of Grow Boating and the offshoot of the BIA of NSW, the Manufacturers Division, can get together to glean the facts and stats of boating and make them available to the brands and dealers who can use them for their business planning.
Next week, you can share the opinions of marketing gurus, among them Jamie Mackay from BWM advertising agency and various industry stalwarts, to get their expert views on how the industry can focus on growing boating at a consumer level. If we all put our seasoned wisdom and best brains together, surely we can sell the lifestyle to a public that’s willing to be wooed. It’s not a hard sell after all!
This week, there is news from NZ, Asia, the Middle East and Europe, including feedback from the debut of boats at the British Motor Show in early August, some updated stats on the rising flood of US exports in Australia, and the boating impetus many anticipate from the success of Olympic Sailing in China, with events proving very popular with crowds and the host country winning a bronze medal. This could be the stimulus that kicks off China’s boating boom!
Keep in touch and keep up to date with all Marine Business News.
by Jeni Bone, Editor
11:35 PM Tue 26 Aug 2008 GMT
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