The Irish Marine Federation joined industry colleagues and associations from across Europe at the annual EBI General Assembly held in Hamburg, Germany. The main focus of the General Assembly is to ratify new members to the association and agree Council elections to continue representation of the EBI.

As well as a worthwhile networking event, there was also a valuable workshop entitled ‘Understanding the economic position and developing opportunities in a changing trade landscape’. Contributors included Philip Easthill (EBI), Holger Flindt (Pantaenius Insurance) and Petros Michelidakis (boot Düsseldorf).

The IMF is a full member of the EBI and regularly supports their work while also feeding back information and topics relevant to the Irish recreational boating industry and nautical tourism sector.

The Irish Marine Federation were pleased to attend the recent European Maritime Day 2025 and were invited to take part in a workshop discussion organised by the European Boating Industry (EBI) entitled “From Isolation to Innovation: Boosting Maritime and Coastal Tourism in Outermost Regions“.

IMF board member and Dun Laoghaire Marina manager, Paal Janson, was on hand to represent the Irish perspective and was joined on the panel discussion by European Commission Head of Unit DG MARE A.3 Mr Christos Economou and Polyvios Raxis, Atlantis Research, representing the ecoRoute project.

The workshop focused on presenting the challenges and opportunities for unlocking the potential of ecotourism of maritime and coastal tourism as well as overcoming obstacles for sustainable growth in the marine environment.

It was a valuable chance to foster collaborations and bring together stakeholders from local governments, the tourism industry, academia, and the community.