PIBS 2024 celebrates 40 years as benchmark event

The 2024 Palma International Boat Show (PIBS) and Palma Superyacht Village closed on Sunday, attracting 27,000 visitors during its four-day run.

Visitor attendance was lower than last year when more than 32,000 people visited the show. There were 600 boats on display at PIBS 2023, including 260 afloat, and 295 exhibitors – a record number.

The fall in the number of visitors this year was thought to be related to bad weather on Sunday. In fact, the first three days of the show recorded 22,000 visitors which was more than the first three days of last year’s show.

Exhibitors told IBI they were pleased with the turnout for what, after 40 years, is now recognised as a benchmark event in the annual European boating calendar and the opening show of the Mediterranean season.

PIBS 2024 was organised by the Regional Ministry of Enterprise, Employment and Energy, through the Balearic Islands Institute for Business Innovation (IDI) and the Balearic Yacht Brokers Association (BYBA).

According to the organisation’s initial assessments, the presence of major shipyards has already been confirmed for the next edition – if possible, with more space.

Moreover, the general opinion is that the offer presented by the participating companies has been of high quality and very mature and reflects the evolution that the Palma boat show has undergone in recent years, which has become the event that marks the start of the season and where many deals are closed.

This 40th anniversary edition of PIBS generated a lot of media attention. Some 330 professionals, including IBI, were accredited to cover the event, many of them specialising in sailing and coming from European countries and the US.

PIBS 2024 has been the starting point for designing the future of this event, as the path towards certification as a sustainable event and measuring its economic impact has begun. During the fair, visitors and exhibitors were surveyed to obtain the data and subsequently find out what PIBS means for the Balearic economy. Following the surveys, the carbon footprint will be measured to draw up a plan to reduce it.

The 40th anniversary was also an opportunity to recognise and thank exhibitors for the support they have always given to this nautical event in Palma. Thus, the Marcial Sánchez Barcáiztegui award was presented to Náutica Morey, one of the companies that participated in the Alcúdia Floating Boat Show in 1983, the forerunner of the PIBS. The role of the Alcúdia Town Hall and Alcudiamar were also recognised for hosting this first local fair, which laid the foundations for today’s Palma International Boat Show.