ADEX China 2019 Report

The Shanghai edition of the Asia Dive Expo (ADEX) was held in conjunction with ISPO Shanghai, a multi-segment summer trade show for innovation, marketing, networking, and communication across China’s sports market. The combined events featured first-class speakers from the sports industry, opinion leaders and highly respected experts taking part in discussions on developments in the sports market and beyond. The event convened domestic and international brands in six major sectors, namely fitness, running, outdoor, skiing, water sports and diving, showcasing the trends of the domestic and international sports market.

DAY ONE

The ADEX Shanghai Ocean Fiesta 2019 commenced on

July 5 at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. Premiering a collection of prestigious brand names that constitute the pillars of the diving industry, ADEX was positioned to reinforce diving as a sport befitting summer to both professional and aspiring divers in China and around the region.

The Ocean Fiesta was headlined with interactive “live” displays and presentations from the powerhouse agencies of diving and mermaiding. The exhibitors included PADI,

SSI, SDI, TDI, SRDI, DAN World, 7 LOB Inc, Infiniti Liveaboard, Mola Mola Liveaboard, RAJA AMPAT –

Meridian Adventure Dive Resort, Sea Safari Cruises, Whale Liveaboard Thailand, Akuana Gears, Cetma Composites

SRL, Leaderfins, PROBLUE International Corp, Divestar DongGuan SVS Sports Goods Co., Ltd. and MC Bunaken Dive Resort. With its specially appointed exhibitors and speakers, ADEX Shanghai aimed to reach out to aspiring divers and to inspire industry partners to help expand the diving landscape in Greater China.

DAY TWO

The second day of the show began with a spirited display of camaraderie amongst the exhibitors. As well as

“live” and interactive diving demonstrations in a custom PADI tank to the graceful displays at the Olympic pool by the mermaids, the Water Stage was graced by the leading industry thought leaders from both local and international companies.

Speaking on the Water Stage, professional underwater photographer James Zhu shared his beautiful works with the audience and explained the complexities and ethics involved behind each image. Wang Yuan from Akuana shared the history of underwater military strategies, the tragic and legendary tales of underwater military heroes of many different countries and about each country’s defence, underwater terrorist tactic trends, and the lack of a credible hub for training and supplies. We also heard from Andrea Salomi from CETMA Composite, one of the first to engineer high tech fins made with innovative materials and with the latest technology. In addition,

Raymond Chan from SDI, TDI, ERDI, shared his shipwreck diving efforts and offered tips on the planning of a shipwreck dive. Key points included the best timing to embark on a dive, the ideal weather, and the equipment needed. He also gave his top 10 shipwreck locations to explore.

DAY THREE

On the final day, the show’s knowledge-sharing platform – ISPO Water Stage – had the pleasure of inviting Cyril Jin Xuefeng, a dive instructor from WUD, who shared the various top cave diving locations and the challenges in the preparation for overseas exploration – such as the timings, budgets, travel tickets, types of equipment and more. Cyril also raised technical issues such as dive tank logistics for deep-diving, the difference between dive tank compression standards, and the importance of gas composition for the various diving depths. He was followed by a representative from PADI who gave a presentation on the organisation’s growth, the four “Ocean Family” dive centres from the many different regions, and concluded with an intriguing short video on PADI’s education and conservation work.

The inaugural edition of the ADEX Shanghai Ocean Fiesta was a resounding success, generating a huge amount of excitement around the areas of recreational diving, technical diving, freediving, underwater photography and videography, and the crowd’s favourite fascination, mermaiding. ADEX would like to extend our special thanks to our exhibitors – 7 LOB Inc, Akuana Gears, Cetma Composites, DAN World, DongGuan SVS Sports Goods Co., Ltd., MC Beach Resort-Bunaken Island, Meridien Adventure Dive, Mola Mola Liveaboard, PADI,

藍鯨國際 Problue 優質水裝備品牌, Leaderfins, Infiniti Liveaboard, Whale Liveaboard Thailand, Sea Safari Cruises, SDI TDI ERDI and SSI. We would also like to thank all our friends, sponsors, partners and other stakeholders for their support and participation in

ADEX Shanghai Ocean Fiesta 2019. We look forward to a seeing you again for the 2020 edition!