Asia-Pacific Superyacht Association announces 45 Founding Members

by Tamsin Edenbrow, APSA on 31 Aug 2011 The Founding Committee of the Asia-Pacific Superyacht Association (APSA) has announced that the Association now has 45 Founding Members.

The Founding Members of APSA come from 14 countries across the world, from Fiji to Japan, from Australia to the United Kingdom. The primary objective of the Asia-Pacific Superyacht Association is to promote the Asia-Pacific region to the global superyacht community both as the world’s 'most exciting cruising destination' and as a superyacht construction, refit and services location.

APSA Committee member Jean-Jacques Lavigne said that 'we are delighted with the support APSA has received from the industry and the media. Our 45 Founding Members represent a broad cross-section of professional individuals and international companies from the superyacht industry. With this impressive Founding Membership base, APSA’s work to ‘open the Asia-Pacific region to superyachts’ can really begin.'

Further applications for membership are being received on a daily basis, and the association expects continued growth in its membership. The Founding Members’ geographical split shows show that 22% members are Singapore-based, 13% UK, 13% Hong Kong, 11% Thailand, 10% Australia, 10% Malaysia, 7% India, 2% Fiji, 2% France, 2% Indonesia, 2% Netherlands, 2% Philippines, 2% Spain and 2% Japan. The APSA objective is to gather all of the important players from Asia as well as interested parties from the rest of the world work together to really open up and grow the superyacht industry in Asia, create commercial opportunities, share Asia-Pacific industry news and promote the region to the rest of the world.

APSA Chairman Colin Dawson said that 'Many people in the yachting world are looking to Asia as the next unspoiled cruising ground, and we are seeing a steady growth in numbers of both visiting yachts and regionally-based yachts. One of the primary objectives of APSA is to set up working groups around the region to identify what the region needs to do to set an effective agenda and work with Government agencies to create a sustainable superyacht industry.'

Memberships are now available, and there are various categories to suit all sizes of operation. Being a not-for-profit organisation, the aim is to have an inclusive Association with members working together to grow the region as a whole. A special APSA ‘Meet and Greet’ week will be held 7-13 November in Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore. APSA Founding Members will be encouraged to join together with other members in their region for dinner and discussions.

Dawson added, 'The APSA week will allow members to get together and discuss issues that affect them and give thoughts on the direction of the superyacht industry in the region. Guests of members will be welcome to join in and we hope that this will spread the word about the work we are doing and encourage new members to join.'

The APSA Founding Committee will at the Monaco Yacht Show from 21-24 September and will be available to meet industry professionals to talk about APSA, the superyacht industry and the Asia-Pacific region.
Asia-Pacific Superyacht Association memberships are available for Captains, crew and owners of superyachts, companies both in and outside the region and other Associations.

For more information, contact:

tamsin@apsuperyacht.org
www.apsuperyacht.org