The International Council of Marine Industry Associations – ICOMIA – is the international trade association and has represented the global marine industry since 1966.

Recently, the 2014 World Marinas Conference kicked off in Istanbul, Turkey – a meeting of the global organization aimed at bringing together the marine industry to recognize and review achievements in new marina management and development.  Westrec Marinas’ Director of Latin America and Certified Marina Planner Roberto Souza was on hand to present Westrec’s innovative strategy and development in the area of dry storage, a marina concept that has seen much success at Westrec properties in Florida.

Excerpts from the Press Release:

June 3, 2014

ICOMIA World Marinas Conference kicks-off to global applause in Istanbul

The ICOMIA World Marinas Conference (WMC) opened its doors on Monday June 2 in Istanbul to start an event with a truly international character.  Some 225 guests arrived from every continent, covering 27 countries. With over 50 speakers from all over the world and an impressive program of seminars on the global marina industry and emerging markets, ICOMIA WMC is the leading light in ensuring the successful future development of marina facilities around the globe.

Organised by the ICOMIA Marinas Group in partnership with METS organiser Amsterdam RAI< the three-day event kicked off with a warm Turkish welcome by Alpaslan Sirkecioglu from conference host DENTUR and Cemalettin Sevil, General Director of the Turkish Maritime and Inland Waters Directorate.  They highlighted the promising marina environment in Turkey, which currently has some 15,000 berths with plans to double the offering…

Westrec’s Ronaldo Souza presents at the 2014 ICOMIA WMC in Istanbul, Turkey

…Another area on the up is dry storage marinas; there are currently 80,000 on-land berths in the world and that number is growing exponentially.  In this respect, the new dry storage technology presented by Ronaldo Souza from Westrec Marinas (Brazil) during the ‘Dry Storage Marinas – Trending in the 21st Century’ session was particularly relevant.

“The dry storage market is increasing and so are the sizes of boats being stored in this way,” explained Souza.  “Whereas the average size of boat being kept on land used to be 25-feet, we are now seeing 60-feet yachts in dry storage.  This shift is being facilitated by innovative ways to move and handle heavy boats such as gantry cranes.  These new techniques are being used across North and South America.”

For the past 12 years, Hall of Fame Marina in Fort Lauderdale, FL has developed a close partnership with New River Middle School as a way of giving back to the local community.  To date, over $25,000 has been raised through donations and sponsorships for the school’s “Marine Science Magnate Program” that teaches students the importance of marine life and caring for the marine environment.  This money has been used for various environmental projects and field trips and the school has also started an aquarium club and other enhanced programs for the students.

On February 16, 2014, Hall of Fame Marina participated in the 5th annual A1A Fun Walk/Run Half Marathon and 30+ boaters, employees, teachers, and staff  ran as part of “Team Westrec”.  All donations raised were in turn donated to New River Middle School on behalf of the marina.

From the school, “[Hall of Fame Marina has] supported our school through various fundraising events, mentoring activities, field trips, and overall community involvement in the school.  Scott Salomon, Marina Manager at Hall of Fame Marina, has given countless hours to support NRMS, the Marine Science Magnate Program, and our students.  This event is just another example of the community involvement at NRMS and the impact our Partners in Education have on our students education.”

Westrec Marinas is thrilled to continue to be a part of the community in Fort Lauderdale and we look forward to the next A1A Walk/Run Half Marathon!

Welcome to the brand new Westrec Marinas website!  As one of the nation’s leaders in professional marina management, our new website has been developed to be the best place to learn more about who we are and what we do as a company.  While you browse, we’d like to draw your attention to several updated features.

Unique to this site is a new “Marinas” navigation section that features Westrec properties in each of 4 national quadrants.  On the page for each marina, you can find information unique to each property including photos, amenities, location, website and contact information.  These marina pages will be updated with new information from time to time.

Under this “News” section, we will be posting noteworthy news and updates from our properties and management.  Feel free to check back here frequently to read more!

We’re excited to share this new site with you!  With any questions or comments, please contact us by clicking here.