Inaugural Australia Fiji Rendezvous: Another successful South Pacific superyacht collaboration
by David Good 27 Aug 2019 23:21 NZST
23 August 2019
The inaugural Australia Fiji Rendezvous took place last Friday 23 August at Port Denarau at the Denarau Yacht Club. The Rendezvous attracted 17 vessels with Captains and crews all keen to partake and receive updates on what is happening in the Australian superyacht industry.
Superyacht Australia members - Superyacht Group Great Barrier Reef, International Yacht Paint and AwlGrip, Gold Coast City Marina & Shipyard, The Yard Brisbane and Superyacht Solutions attended the full day's activities in Fiji last Friday that included a Morning Tea Expo, VIP Captain's Lunch, Best Dressed Competition, BBQ Cooking Competition and a Networking Party.
This event was modelled on the successful Australia Tahiti Rendezvous that Superyacht Australia have been managing for the past 7 years.
"The formula established at the Australia/Tahiti rendezvous proved itself again. The Captains and crews were engaged with informative exchanges and enjoyable networking experiences. The cooking contest was a blast. As usual the crews participated enthusiastically! The venue and the weather were great. Everyone had a great time through the day and into the night.
Fiji really has established itself as a haven for yachts May through November. It makes complete sense for the Australian superyacht industry to make a splash in Fiji in August", said Peter Luke, Director of Superyacht Solutions.
The BBQ Cooking Competition saw three crews participating. Australian ingredients and steaks were delivered to the vessels. M/Y DENIKI were the winners with their impressive three course meal with accompanying cocktail.
The Best Dressed went to M/Y INDIGO for their very creative Great Barrier Reef Tropical dress up and theming. Their meal presentation, tropical punch and table setting where spectacular and bright, bringing the Great Barrier theme to life.
The day's events were added to with a traditional Fijian dance performance by VOU Dance Fiji.
"The inaugural Australia Fiji Rendezvous was a great success, an opportunity to introduce our capability to both yacht crew and the agents in Fiji who support them.
Not only was it important to make new connections but also to show continuing support to our existing customers during their busy season, these mid-season meetings help us better understand our customers dynamic requirements.
Marketing Australia alongside industry peers reinforces the strength of the regional capabilities and helps cement Australia's place as South Pacific superyacht destination," said Marks Phelps, International Development Manager of The Yard Brisbane.
The Australia Fiji Rendezvous was part of Superyacht Australia's approach to work proactively and in partnership with the South Pacific and South East Asian neighbours to continue to increase the number of vessels in this region.
"In addition to promoting Australia as a destination for all it has to offer, another key focus of Superyacht Australia is to encourage vessels to come to Australia for refit and maintenance. Too often vessels depart the Pacific when they are due for a major yard period, Australia offers refit, maintenance facilities and services that rival what's available in Europe and the USA. There has been over $100M spent on refit infrastructure in Australia in the past 12 months alone. This is the benefit we provide our Pacific neighbours; we can assist in keeping these vessels in the pacific longer as they do not need to venture all the way back to Europe or the East Coast of the USA for survey or refit. The longer a vessel stays in the Pacific, the more the region benefits as a whole," said David Good, Chief Executive Officer of Superyacht Australia.
"Superyacht Australia would not have been able to put this event on without the local Fijian support of Port Denarau Marina, Rhum-ba & Denarau Yacht Club, Baobab Marine, Yacht Help and Yacht Partners Fiji. "continued David Good in acknowledgement and appreciation of the Rendezvous' supporters.