FEATURE | EFTTEX 2018
www.tackletradeworld.com 19
about business but also about a nice
atmosphere and great people. During
this year’s Annual General Assembly I
observed a greater interest in the work
that Jan and myself are involved with
in Brussels. That gives us an additional
motivation for the next challenging
months to come. I hope our lobbying
efforts will continue to safeguard
EFTTA’s interests until the next EFTTEX
in Brussels.”
Sofi a Minero, Consultant in EU Affairs
at AlienorEU, an EU policies consulting
agency, introduced a presentation
about what EFTTA and EAA (European
Anglers Alliance) have been working
on and achieving since they started
back in 2014. Uniting their strengths,
they created the European Parliament’s
Aquatic Environment and Recreational
Fisheries Forum (RecFishing Forum)
and they have been organising different
events in the European Parliament.
This Forum has also helped in creating
a network of supportive MEPs who
are now working with in Brussels on a
day to day basis. AlienorEU intensifi ed
its working relations with its network
of MEP’s and also met new ones to
present to them priority topics; Water
Framework Directive, Hydropower, Sea
Bass, Recreational Fisheries and the
Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
THE CHARITY
The EFTTEX Offi cial Charity,
Peuterfonds, has become a very
important part of the show. EFTTA
members and exhibitors contribute
every year and help the less fortunate
to enrich their fi shing experience.
The foundation’s goal is to promote
the happiness of children with health
problems by offering them a fantastic
sport fi shing experience. Groups of
children are taken out for a day to
enjoy and experience the pleasures of
fi shing. Each child is accompanied by
a Peuterfonds-volunteer where each
day is fully catered and, at the end,
every child receives a fi shing rod and a
participation medal. The Peuterfonds
foundation relies completely on its
volunteers and sponsors to make these
days happen.
THE GALA EVENING
The Gala Evening and the Best New
Product Awards ceremony are the most
highly anticipated moments of the year
and were once again another success.
Around 400 people enjoyed the buffet,
drinks and the presentation of the
winners and the runners up.
EFTTA President Robin Morley gave
a speech encouraging EFTTA members
and exhibitors to keep supporting
the industry. Representatives of the
charity received a plaque and thanked
everyone at EFTTEX for their support
after explaining what they do as a
charity. The awards ceremony was
presented by EFTTEX Manager Victoria
Seymour accompanied by EFTTA
General Manager Janet Doyle and
EFTTA CEO Jean-Claude Bel. EFTTEX
2018 welcomed 35 international press
members to judge the 237 entries in the
Best New Product showcase.
CLOSING QUOTES
Janet Doyle, EFTTA & EFTTEX General
Manager
“Amsterdam was home to this year’s
EFTTEX 2018, the city has hosted us 13
times out of 37 shows. We welcomed
over 2,940 participants to EFTTEX. We
had 222 stands occupying 6,266sqm
of space in Hall 1 at the RAI. The
exhibitors and visitors I spoke to at
the show were positive and thought
the quality of visitors was good. The
aisles certainly felt busy, however, the
last day, Saturday was the quietest of
the three days, and some participants
did mention this too. This year we
introduced a new badging system
which reduced queues seen in previous
years at the visitor registration, we plan
to continue with this system for next
year and beyond. We had seminars on
Intellectual Property and Sustainability
which was well received and our best
new product competition welcomed
more than 250 entries, all the winners
and runner-up were announced at
the gala dinner. The AGM was well
attended, the best I’ve seen in many
years so I’d like to thank all those
who got up early to come and fi nd out
more about our lobbying activities and
achievements in Brussels. Next year
will see us return to Brussels for the 3rd
time. We have already sold 70 per cent
of the fl oor space available for 2019. We
will offer the rest of the trade who were
not in Amsterdam to book a stand for
2019 from October. In the meantime we
all look forward to seeing you from the
13th – 15th June 2019 in Brussels.”
Kristaps Dobrajs, Manager France –
Benelux, Deeper
“Deeper was at EFTTEX for its fi fth
year in a row and, as in previous times,
it was a well-organized exhibition that
delivered plenty of surprises and great
connections. Being able to meet the
strongest players in the industry and
some of the greatest anglers out there
has been of unmeasurable value. We’re
looking forward to coming back next
year and taking home more prizes!”
Edson Mattar, Trader, Mazzaferro
“EFTTEX was great, the staff were
really helpful and the venue was in
a good location. During the show we
received leads from companies from
different regions, which seem like very
good prospects! We are expecting that
very soon we will be able to close deals
with some of them. We certainly are
hoping to be able to participate again
next year.”
/www.tackletradeworld.com