Surfboards, wetsuits and other hardware items in the surf sector have recorded growth rates of between 20 and 40 percent during the current post-Covid year, according to the European Surf Industry Manufacturers Association (EuroSIMA).
Speaking at the annual EuroSIMA Surf Summit in Hossegor, on the French Basque coast, Jean-Louis Rodrigues, president of the association, also said that surfing has become the second most popular sport in Portugal after football, making the country the second-largest destination in Europe for surfers, behind France.
Held in-person for the first time since 2019, the 20th edition of the annual convention welcomed 250 professionals from the action sports industry in Hossegor on Oct. 14 and 15. Frederic Basse, the former French surfing champion who co-founded Rip Curl Europe and led EuroSIMA for a decade, received a Life Achievement Award at the summit, paying tribute to his 45-year career in the industry and the contribution that he has made to the European boardsports culture.
EuroSIMA also decided to sponsor two startups: Sealocker, which has developed an app for users to try out or rent boards ahead of a purchase; and Kohe Surf, a producer of electrically assisted boards.
One of the 14 speakers at the conference, Emanuelle Duez, indicated that managers have to set new limits and invent a new philosophy of management in an environment where more people are working from home. Duez, who founded The Boston Project, said the pandemic has seen “employees taking over power and renegotiating the internal business deal between employer and employees”. Where before there was a single deal for all, from now on there will be a coexistence of different deals within a single entity, she argued, adding that the new generation is pragmatic, resilient, hyper-involved and sensitive.
