Monaco Yachts Attract Royalty and Multi-Millionaires
The super yacht industry has gone from strength to strength in recent years, and the Monaco Yacht Show has proved to be the natural home for their annual display to would be buyers.
Spotted among possible buyers was British Royal Prince Michael of Kent.
The world’s leading luxury yacht show in Monaco held 18-22 September is to pay for 55 wind turbines in New Zealand – enough to generate power for 45,000 homes – making the event ‘carbon neutral’.
Under the watchful eye of Prince Albert, the yacht show is part of Monaco’s new stance on global warming, and comes shortly after Prince Albert himself travelled to the North Pole in April to highlight the damage he believes global warming is having on the environment.
‘Since Prince Albert came to the throne last year’ commented one Monaco travel guide after the show, ‘Monaco has changed her policy from one of the few countries not to sign the Kyoto Protocol to not only signing it but taking a lead in the battle against global warming. Prince Albert has personally taken steps to show how concerned he is, and by setting the example of going to the North Pole has shown the leadership necessary to encourage Monaco companies to become environmentally friendly, and the Monaco Yacht Show is an example of this’.
The Monaco Yacht Show has bult a reputation over the years as the place for the wealthy to view potential purchases, and this year there will be nearly a hundred yachts on display to those able to afford it.
In total some 22,000 visitors attended with over 500 exhibitors from the yachting world exhibiting.
The mix of wealth and Monte Carlo also means that real estate agents in Monaco were on full alert. In previous years the Monaco Yacht Show has often proved more beneficial for the realtors than the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Monaco Grand Prix attracts tens of thousands of Formula 1 fans annually to the principality at the end of May, but with some Monte Carlo streets closed, showing property in Monaco can be more problematic than during the Yacht Show.
A Monte Carlo real estate agent says that the more relaxed atmosphere of the Yacht Show allows potential property buyers to view properties.
‘If someone is visiting Monaco for the Yacht Show and has several million Euros available, it’s a pretty safe assumption that those buyers will have a
few million for a property too, and a luxury yacht and Monaco Real Estate appeal to the same type of buyer.’
Typical of Monaco Real Estate prices is a two bedroom two bathroom apartment in Seaside Plaza, close to where the Yacht Show is located, at 3,700,000 Euros.
Monaco Hotels
The emergence of the Yacht Show has helped the Monaco economy by drawing the world’s wealthy to the principality for four days in September.
Until recently the Monaco Grand Prix in May and the Monte Carlo Masters tennis the month before have been the two main events of the year which boost the occupancy levels of the hotels in Monaco.
With the Yacht Show in September filling the hotels at premium rates, it has proved to be a welcome addition to the calendar of events for both residents and businesses alike, and the Hotel de Paris Monte Carlo proved to be the scene of many deals being signed over the four days.
This year also saw the first Monaco Flower Show, which it is hoped will also be a tourist magnet in future years.
‘In the past Monaco has had the highlights of the Monaco Grand Prix and the tennis, with consistent numbers of visitors the rest of the year,’ say the Monaco travel guide, ‘but Monaco is becoming much more diverse in what it offers throughout the calendar year. The Yacht Show has been a success, and given a little time the Monaco Flower Show will appeal to a different type of tourist, and might be as popular as the Hampton Court and Chelsea Flower Shows are in the UK. Diversity is the key to sustained tourism, and Monaco is doing it very well.
Despite being the second smallest country in the world, Monaco has attracted many of the world’s top business and entertainment people to live there
due to her income tax free status, and with Prince Albert at the helm it seems that the principality is beginning to punch above her weight in world politics as he takes the lead on environmental issues’, they add.
Monaco Grand Prix Tops Travel Poll
Europe’s Monaco Grand Prix has been voted as the favourite destination by British people as the ultimate sports event to visit. No other sporting event comes near to being able to combine the year round sophistication and glamour of Monte Carlo with the heady excitement of F1’s premier annual race on the streets of Monaco.
The interest in F1 has been in decline in recent years in the UK, and it is a surprise perhaps that the Monaco Grand Prix has managed to retain her legendary status. Part of the decline has been since television coverage in the UK switched from the BBC to ITV, with ITV running advertisements during the race. But the biggest factor for the declining interest of F1 in the UK has been the marked lack of success in the sport for British drivers, with Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell the last two Britons to consistently win races and championships. This year has seen the most open championship in some years, following the retirement of ace German driver Michael Schumacher.
Seven times World Champion Michael Schumacher retired from racing at the end of the 2006 season, and his departure has increased the possibility of no individual driver dominating for some time to come. The ace German driver won his championships in 1994 and 1995, and between 2000 and 2004 won five championships in a row. A new star has entered the arena of F1, and it’s a Briton, helping to re-ignite British interest in the sport, and going some way perhaps to explain the British love affair with the Monaco Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton is a 22-year-old Formula One racecar rookie who has taken the racing circuit by storm this year, finishing on the podium in third place in his first Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia, and then second in the Malaysian Grand Prix just two weeks later, then becoming the first driver to take three podium finishes in his first three races. He may seem to be an overnight sensation, but he’s worked his way into the Formula One racing world since he was a mere youngster. In an almost unbelievable stroke of luck, young eleven-year-old Lewis participated in, and won, the McLaren Mercedes Champions of the Future series in 1996 and met Ron Dennis, owner and director of the McLaren Formula One racing team. The introduction proved fortuitous for the youngster, who told Dennis that his goal was to race the Formula One circuit.
A mere two years later, McLaren signed Lewis Hamilton to his ‘McLaren Driver Developmnt Support’ program. The document served to make Lewis, at thirteen years old, the youngest driver in the world to have held an F1 racing contract. As Lewis became more experienced and participated in pre-Formula One races, he distinguished himself with his dedication and gusto. The boy with the impish grin is still grinning as he poses for publicity shots at various pre-Formula One racing venues in which he has raced, including 2005’s F3 Euro series, which he finished with 15 victories and 13 pole positions. Lewis spent years racing go-karts and participating in Junior Formula One racing events, including the 2001 British F1 Renault winter series and the 2002 Formula Renault UK, as well as races in Macau and Korea’s Grand Prix races. In 2005, Autosport magazine ranked Lewis 24th among their top 50 drivers. As he has worked his way up the ranks, Lewis fast earned a reputation as an extremely gifted driver with the flair for daring racing maneuvers that reminds many of the ‘old timers’, who maintained top speeds and risky moves as they raced various courses around the world. His star seems to be rising as fast and surely as one of the the first black Formula One racecar drivers in the world.
In 2007, Lewis was signed on as a full time Formula One driver for McLaren’s Formula One racing team, a dream come true for the vibrant, personable racer. He made his Formula One racing debut recently at the Australian Grand Prix this March, coming in third at the prestigious event in Melbourne.
Source: http://www.articlecircle.com
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