Informa Prestige, the luxury and lifestyle portfolio of leading international B2B Live Events Group, Informa, today announces the launch of The Future of Refit, the industry’s first ever event dedicated exclusively to the global superyacht refit and maintenance market.
The event will be held at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, from 31 March to 2 April 2027, with an on-water display of refit yachts hosted in the marina of Yacht Club de Monaco, a key partner in the event.
The Yacht Club de Monaco has a long track record of launching key initiatives that shape the future of the superyacht industry, including:
– The SEA Index® —the international benchmark for assessing and reducing the carbon footprint of yachts.
– The Monaco Energy Boat Challenge (14th edition: 29 June – 3 July 2027), the leading international event dedicated to emerging maritime technologies.
The Future of Refit will form part of its latest initiative, ‘Monaco, Capital of Advanced Yachting’, which seeks to bring together key stakeholders to address major challenges facing the yachting industry, from innovation to modernisation, performance and sustainability.
The event will reinforce Monaco’s position as the global platform for advanced, responsible and future-oriented yachting.
For Informa Prestige, the owner/operator of the world’s leading superyacht event, the Monaco Yacht Show, The Future of Refit represents the first professional platform focused exclusively on a sector of substantial and growing commercial importance.
A market of significant and growing scale
The value of the superyacht refit industry is estimated at between $3 billion and $5 billion per year, growing at between 6 and 9 per cent annually. By industry estimates, refit accounts for approximately 36 per cent of earnings across the superyacht sector.
The market is supported by a global fleet of more than 6,000 active superyachts over 30 metres, a significant proportion of which is entering its first or second major refit cycle following the construction boom of the 2000s and 2010s. Owners typically invest around 10 per cent of a yacht’s value per year in operations and upkeep, with major refits occurring every five to ten years — making refit one of the most reliable revenue streams in the industry.
The forward drivers of growth are strong, including tightening environmental regulation, the sustained requirements of the charter market, constrained new-build availability at leading yards, and the increasing technical complexity of modern superyachts — each reinforcing refit as an essential and recurring component of yacht ownership.
The Future of Refit: Specialist content, interactive forum and showcase exhibition
The Future of Refit will be held at Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, over three days, combining an interactive conference programme and professional exhibition with an on-water display of refit yachts in the marina of Yacht Club de Monaco. BOAT International, part of the Informa Prestige portfolio and the world’s leading superyacht media, events and data company, will be adding its considerable content expertise to the new event.
The event addresses a clear gap in the superyacht calendar: a dedicated platform for refit, refurbishment and modernisation, held in spring — a moment when the Mediterranean season is opening and the industry is at its most forward-looking.
A centrepiece of the programme is Refit Live — an interactive forum bringing together owners, designers, shipyards and industry specialists around keynote speeches, roundtables, case studies, bespoke workshops and daily sessions led by the editorial team of BOAT International.
Toby Moore, Chief Executive Officer of Informa Prestige, said:
“Refit is no longer a secondary consideration within the superyacht industry — it is one of its defining economic realities. The owners, operators and specialists who make up this market have, for too long, had to conduct their most important professional conversations in the margins of events designed for other purposes. The Future of Refit addresses that unmet need directly — bringing together the full refit ecosystem around a dedicated programme covering refit, refurbishment and modernisation in all their dimensions, including Refit Live, an interactive designer masterclass that puts the creative and technical disciplines of refit centre stage. It is the right conversation, in the right place, at the right time — in Monaco, in the spring, at a moment in the superyacht calendar that is genuinely uncontested.”
Stewart Campbell, Managing Director of BOAT International, said:
“An event dedicated exclusively to the refit sector is long overdue. This market is only growing in importance as new build order books remain full and the demand for yachts increases. Refit is the obvious choice for many owners looking to get on the water without waiting for a new build, and as a result we’re seeing some truly exciting refit and rebuild projects at shipyards around the world. I’m looking forward to collaborating with the rest of the Informa Prestige portfolio on this important new event.”
A commitment to the industry
Informa Prestige will develop The Future of Refit in close dialogue with the refit community. As planning advances, the organisation will engage with shipyards, industry bodies, equipment suppliers and refit specialists to ensure the event genuinely serves the long-term interests of the sector.
Further details on the programme, confirmed participants and exhibition opportunities will be announced in the coming months.
