Service: Everything about boot 2023 - hall plan, admission prices and highlights
Pascal Schürmann
· 14.01.2023
The anticipation in the Düsseldorf exhibition tower is great. The organisers of boot can hardly wait for the halls to finally fill up with water sports enthusiasts again for nine days from 21 January. Many sailors and exhibitors will be just as eagerly awaiting the date, as boot has had to be cancelled twice in a row due to the coronavirus pandemic. But now things are set to resume.
Around 1,500 exhibitors will be there. "At boot 2023, everyone will experience a firework display of yachts, boats, sport, fun and action in 16 exhibition halls covering an area of 220,000 square metres," promises Düsseldorf Exhibition Director Wolfram Diener. And immediately adds that no one need fear that boot could be cancelled again at short notice due to energy shortages or rising infection rates. "We are ideally equipped," says Diener. "Our exhibition halls are equipped with the latest high-performance particle filters, known as Hepa filters, which eliminate 99.9 per cent of viruses from the air. And the energy supply is also completely safe. As usual, the temperature in the halls will be 19 degrees throughout."
boot Director Petros Michelidakis adds: "The world is a guest at boot 2023. The list of exhibitor countries ranges from Australia to Cyprus." It is expected that the trade fair will once again attract numerous visitors from Germany and abroad, as it did before the crisis.
Hall utilisation has been changed significantly in some cases
No matter where visitors come from, they will discover a whole series of changes in addition to many familiar ones. First of all, the hall layout has been modified, in some cases significantly. For example, Halls 1 to 7a and Hall 9 are now reserved for motorboats of all sizes and orientations, from fishing boats to luxury yachts worth millions. Hall 8, located in front of the North Entrance, where an artificially created surf wave has caused a furore in recent years, will no longer be used. Surfers, kiters, wakeboarders and especially kiteboarders and wingfoilers will move to Hall 17, where sailing yachts were on display in previous years, where a huge basin with enormous wind machines will be installed to allow the foil boards to take off.
While the fun sports and motorboat markets are clearly booming and taking up more and more space in Düsseldorf, sailing boats and yachts will only be on display in Halls 15 and 16. A number of shipyards will probably be coming with fewer boats than in previous years, and some important brands will be missing altogether - at the time of going to press, these included Hanseyachts and X-Yachts in particular, which will be staying away from the trade fair.
The reasons for the slimmed-down sailing yacht programme are manifold: increased transport costs and ships not being completed on time are cited. In view of full order books and delivery times well into 2024, some shipyards will also have fundamentally questioned the need for a trade fair presence - or will be relying on other marketing channels such as social networks or the international influencer scene.
Messe Düsseldorf is countering this with a number of other attractions. For example, an impressive diving tower that has been erected in Hall 12. This hall and part of Hall 13, which was previously reserved for the travel and charter market, are thus the new home for diving exhibitors and enthusiasts at boot. Sailing trips can of course still be booked at the trade fair, in Halls 13 and 14, although around a third of Hall 14 will now be reserved for paddlers. Nevertheless, a visit to the trade fair should be worthwhile for many sailors, not least because of the even more extensive accompanying programme. We will be showing the most interesting events here on yacht.de over the next few days!
Admission prices largely constant
boot has deliberately only partially adjusted the ticket prices to the increased costs. As in previous years, the price for a regular day ticket booked online is 19 euros. Members of the boot Club and the ADAC pay 17 euros. An afternoon ticket is available online from Monday to Thursday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. for 10 euros. Only at the box office on site has it become more expensive: Admission there now costs 27 euros. Children up to the age of six are admitted free of charge, up to the age of twelve they pay 7 euros and from the age of 13 twelve euros.
The highlights in the boot halls
Halls 1 to 7a and 9
Motorboat sport takes centre stage here, from ribs to million-dollar megayachts
Hall 7
Whether watercolour, oil painting or sculpture - boot brings together friends and creators of maritime works of art
Halls 10 and 11
In addition to innovative boat technology and many new accessories, the Blue Innovation Dock in Hall 10 will provide discussions and food for thought on the topic of sustainability in water sports. The Refit Centre can be found in Hall 11
Hall 12
At the centre of the Dive Centre is a new diving tower, where there will be daily diving demonstrations
Hall 13
Charter cruise providers as well as houseboat hire companies and marinas are united here under the common label "Destination Seaside". Travel countries will be presented on a stage and travel bloggers will talk about their favourite destinations
Hall 14
Boating enthusiasts will find the Classic Forum between the paddling and camping worlds. Also in this hall: the "Love your ocean" stand, where everything revolves around marine conservation
Hall 15
The whole world of sailing regattas and associations as well as the "Sailing Centre" and "Start Sailing" are housed here. On the large stage there will be an extensive programme of lectures with many sailing celebrities
Hall 16
The place to go for all sea and coastal sailors: Sailing yachts from Germany and abroad from 22 to 70 feet in length will be presented, including a genuine Wally for the first time, the Nano. The YACHT editorial team will also have its stand here (No. C 42)
Hall 17
Surfers, wingfoilers and kiters can let off steam in a new, huge water basin. Large fans provide them with the wind they need.
