Marina development in Asia is entering a new phase, with projects increasingly expected to deliver wider economic, sustainability and community benefits rather than simply provide berthing for boats, according to ICOMIA programme director Ben Grigg.
Grigg says the decision to hold ICOMIA’s World Marina Conference in Shanghai reflects the growing development activity across the region, with projects already under construction and others at the planning stage.
“The whole of Asia is developing and maturing at different rates,” he says. “For the areas that are really just starting to grow and learn, they can really benefit from listening to the big industry leaders and sharing their knowledge.”
China is emerging as a significant new marina development market, with the government putting leisure yachting and marina development firmly on its agenda.
Marina development becomes a wider proposition
A central theme of the conference will be the relationship between marinas and their surrounding waterfront communities.
Grigg says there is a particular need to move away from the idea of a marina being “just a car park for boats” and instead develop projects that involve the wider community. That means considering employment, skills development and benefits to the local economy, alongside the contribution a waterfront development can make to community welfare.
He says this is becoming increasingly important to the way new marina projects are structured on a global basis.
“You can’t just go with an economic proposal,” Grigg says. “You have to have a complete sustainability proposal and a community welfare proposal that’s all encapsulated within that project.”
For marina developers, that points to a broader set of requirements when building the case for a new project, with economic returns needing to sit alongside sustainability and social benefits.
Asia presents a fragmented development picture
Grigg also highlights the different stages of marina development across Asia.
Some markets are already relatively mature, while others remain at an early stage. That creates opportunities for companies looking to expand into the region, but also means that understanding local development pathways will be important.
For suppliers and businesses considering the Asian market, Grigg says the conference is intended to provide access to the people and organisations shaping those developments.
He points to the importance of making connections with both authorities and private companies, while gaining a clearer understanding of the roadmap for individual regions.
Conference adds commercial focus
The conference itself is also being structured to give delegates a stronger commercial return.
Alongside two days focused on speakers and industry knowledge, the final day is being developed as a more commercially focused programme.
Grigg says delegates will be able to make presentations and take part in business-to-business matchmaking meetings. Regions developing marina projects will also have an opportunity to present and promote those projects to the international audience.
The aim is to move beyond knowledge sharing and create opportunities for commercial relationships to develop.
Delegates “can actually learn from the audience and benefit from their experience and hopefully commercial opportunities will come from this,” Grigg says.
A changing role for marina industry events
The approach reflects a wider change in what marina industry events need to deliver for businesses attending them.
For companies travelling to Asia, Grigg’s message is that the value is not simply in attending a conference. It is in understanding a rapidly developing market, identifying where opportunities exist and establishing relationships with the people involved in delivering projects.
With development progressing at different rates across the region, he says businesses looking to sell products or expand into Asia need to understand the individual markets rather than treating the region as a single proposition.
The underlying message is therefore broader than the conference itself: as marina development expands, particularly in emerging markets, the successful projects will increasingly need to demonstrate what they contribute to the waterfront around them – and businesses entering those markets will need to understand that changing proposition.
The three-day conference will take place in Shanghai (March 2027) alongside the China International Boat Show. Held every two years since 1993, the ICOMIA World Marinas Conference brings together senior marina operators, developers, investors and industry leaders from around the world to share knowledge on the future of marina development.
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