Marina Dock Age, May/June 2003

MOAA Leads the Way to International Marina Day and Beyond
by Ron Stone

It appears that MOAA’s inaugural National Marina Day, held last year, has attracted worldwide attention for its value as a public relations tool. This attention has developed into a growing interest among marina associations in other countries to follow MOAA’s example.

In March, at the 29th meeting of the Marinas Committee of the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA) Jim Frye was asked for advice on putting together an International Marina Day.

Questions came from representatives of marina operators from Australia, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Europe. Frye told them that “how-to” materials from the National Marina Day Information Kit would be posted on MOAA’s Web site, www.moaa.com. (Hard copies are in the process of being distributed, and MOAA has a newsletter version with abridged information.)

Developing international awareness

It should be a simple enough process to apply the existing resources in an international context. The promotion kit is designed so that local marinas simply have to fill in a few blanks. However, as Frye pointed out, marina operators in other countries may need to tailor the information for their specific governments, media, and the general public. To help with this, he suggested that the Marinas Committee create and circulate a template of universal facts and figures about the marina industry that will be useful for promotions in all parts of the world.

As it turns out, the ICOMIA group has a head start on this already. Over the past few years, they have been crafting a series of papers for better informing government, the media, and the public about marinas—especially regarding their economic significance and environmental compatibility. These fact sheets will be posted in the public information section of the ICOMIA Web site, www.icomia.com.   Continue »