NMD goes international
WASHINGTON – National Marina Day has gone international.
With the first-ever Canadian National Marina Day in the works, Association of Marina Industries President James L. Frye said recently that the Ontario Marine Operators Association in Penetanguishene, Ontario, will celebrate the occasion.
NMD was originally designed by AMI as a nationwide celebration of the role America’s marinas play as gateways to boating and stewards of the environment. In previous years, National Marina Day has experienced a relatively low level of international support, as the National Marina Day materials, and the National Marina Day Resource Kits in particular, have been especially designed for American consumption.
This year’s effort by the Board of Directors of OMOA to work with AMI to rewrite the NMD materials for a Canadian audience is in line both with the Canadian marina industry’s goals and with the AMI’s international mission to promote the general welfare of the marina industry around the world, according to a release from AMI.
In 2005, both the Canadian and American National Marina Days will be observed on Aug. 13.
The Canadian effort to use the American National Marina Day model to educate Canadian public officials and the general public about the marina industry in 2005 is, according to Frye, only the first phase of a planned internationalization of the National Marina program.
In 2006 AMI is planning to introduce the AMI program to marina operators in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand in conjunction with the National marine associations of those nations.
“At both the 2005 International Marina Conference in San Diego and our recent Board Meeting in Washington, D.C., we’ve heard from our international members that they’d like to apply the National Marina Day concept to solving the marina issues impacting them in their own countries,” said Frye. “We are looking forward to working with our international board members and the national marine associations in Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand to launch grassroots efforts to promote and protect the marina industry.”
Marina Dock Age and Boating Industry magazine are 2005 NMD joint media sponsors. West Marine is the 2005 National Marina Day official outfitter.
The 2005 National Marina Day industry sponsors are: Bellingham Marine, The BoatU.S. Cooperating Marina Program, Centek Marine Environmental Products, Flagship Marinas, Formex Manufacturing, HydroHoist International, Marinas International, Mansfield Marine Fuels, Premier Materials Technology, ShoreMaster, Inc., Universal Insurance Services, and Valvtect Marine Fuels.
For more information on National Marina Day, contact AMI Manager of State Government Relations and Outreach Stephen Wakefield directly at 202/737-9765, swakefield@marinaasocciation.org. To download a free National Marina Day Resource Kit, visit: http://www.marinaassociation.org/nmd/resourcekit.cfm.
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