IN MY lifetime, never before has a year been so widely spoken about, and love it or not – 2012 is a moment in time we need to grasp and use to all of our benefits.

One area of benefit is raising our profile as a Destination for Marine Excellence – the excellence of our sailing waters is already widely recognised, but we have more to offer.

Since the announcement of London’s success to host the Games and Weymouth and Portland as the venue to host the sailing events, this authority, in partnership with other organisations and businesses, both local and national, has proactively been promoting all the key elements on offer to back up being a ‘Destination for Marine Excellence’ from heavy marine industry to the more specialised along with skills, training and the abundance of leisure facilities.

The International London Boat Show is one platform where we have been able to showcase the area’s marine strengths and facilities.

Presentations on the main stage and to individual businesses, media interviews and for the past few years a request from HRH Princess Anne to visit us on the stand all contributes to raising our profile to a level that is the envy of some other coastal locations.

Opening tomorrow for 10 days this year’s stand is in partnership with Dean & Reddyhoff and Dorset County Council with representation from the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A large plasma screen on the stand will continually show Weymouth, Portland and Dorset via images and short films as a place to work, live, learn in and visit.

So often, visitors to the stand speak of their time visiting or working in the area with affection, a reminder on what a great destination this is.

A number Games: 109,778 people visited the 2011 London Boat show. A further 30,386 people visited The Outdoor Show over the last four days – with full access to the Boat Show – taking the total attendance to 140,164. 73% of visitors in the affluent AB demographic and we look forward to meeting everyone of them to inspire and encourage them to be part of it.