Plain sailing

He would look at home on any beach. It's not difficult to imagine him with a surfboard in hand, the breeze whipping through his long blonde hair. Franck Dailles, group director of Informa Yacht Group, could be a walking advertisement for this yacht company, which participated in the Abu Dhabi Yacht Show in March. But there's more to Dailles than his archetyptal sailor look. The internationally renowned Monaco Yacht Show also forms part of his impressive portfolio. The Parisian, who studied business in the US, has a sensitive side too: music and art are his other passions. He enjoys living the good life, but is not above walking away from it all if necessary. "I am not a slave to my lifestyle," he says seriously. "I can backpack my way through life where need be."

I, ME, MYSELF

I grew up in Paris. I know there is an aura of romance, art and culture attached to the city, but I was too young to really be influenced by this. My parents moved to South Africa when I was eight years old. But when I was in my teens we moved back to Paris. Paris is a beautiful city; it has many art galleries and really is a culture all of its own. To me, it is the most beautiful city in Europe. But I admit that I still haven't seen half of Paris. Of course, I keep returning, as my family is still there.

I decided to go to the US to study business. I know many people move to Paris to study. But I wanted to experience a new environment and take on a new challenge. English itself was a challenge, as I was studying in a business school. It was interesting and a very good experience. I got to travel and experience and discover so many different things.

Many people ask me if growing up in France shaped my personality. I don't think so. Yes, I am from France, but my personality has a lot more to do with the friends, family, aspirations and interests I have.

I am very disciplined where my work is concerned, but I don't schedule my life around it. That's not my approach nor is it my vision in life. I like to do what I feel like doing at any given time.

Business wise, I am very organised and strict when it comes to planning. I am very pragmatic. But when it comes to my personal life, I like to let my inspiration take over. I do not always plan months ahead about where I am going to go. I would say that I am organised, but also unpredictable enough to allow for certain things to develop unexpectedly.

I am quite comfortable with my vision in life. I am comfortable with how to achieve my goals and about how I should live my life. My philosophy is always improving. Over the years, it is inevitable that things do change. I am trying to be a better person, for myself and for the people around me. I am always trying to improve what I'm doing, whether professionally or personally. I try to put my time to good use. I think I have good direction and I think that I have good focus too.

I enjoy travelling - so much so that what I value the most is my passport! If you ask people what they can't part with, many people today will tell you it's their BlackBerry. But for me, it's still my passport. My idea of a nightmare is to not have access to the rest of the world.

Sports is another must-do on my agenda - tennis, swimming, golf at times… and sailing, whenever I can find the time. I also play the piano.

I am very passionate about music. It means a lot to me and reaches me on an emotional level. It takes me to a different plane, and I don't think I could do without it.

I, ME, MYSELF

Me and traditions I think tradition plays an important part in our lives. I believe that it has often been underestimated. It's vital to keep our traditions alive. I do not think that being traditional means being close-minded; I am very open minded, probably because I have travelled the world, visited many places and met many people from different cultures.

I respect differences because I think it's very important for us to celebrate and value diversity. But it is equally important to respect our own traditions.

Me and the US Moving from Paris to the US was a bit of a culture shock, but pleasantly so. Everything was new; everything was exciting. I was full of energy at that time of my life, and so studying at the International Business School of the UCLA while working at the same time was enriching.

It was all about gaining experience. After two years in California, I moved to New York to work for a year. This particular year was fantastic. Working in Los Angeles and then in New York were very different experiences. New York was closer to Europe and has some European cultural influences.

It was also my first experience working in the events business. I had done events in Miami previously for a music company and I had loved it. From there I branched into television events, media events, TV shows and then real estate. Wherever I worked, I learnt a lot, and I soon began forming my own ideas relating to how events should be organised and shaped. The many influences I had in my life up until then all contributed to how I went about this.

Me and art Both my parents are artists so I've been brought up in an artistic environment. Growing up, I was surrounded by concepts of colour, design creativity and innovation. I do love the arts but unless you have a very specific talent, it is difficult to become an artist by profession. I draw and paint at times and I play the piano, but as a hobby, not as a job. I can't deny that my parents influenced me. I like to make things look aesthetically beautiful; I pay attention to detail and I am in my own way, creative. My father was also in the events industry. He was quite creative and ensured that things always looked nice, whatever the event was. I guess that streak was transferred to me.

This tendency is reflected in the Abu Dhabi Yacht Show. It is a very prestigious event that is an embodiment of style, achieved through the use of lights, music and entertainment features such as yacht ballets and fashion shows. It is no ordinary show to my mind.

Me and challenges People are surprised when they find out about my shift from music to media to television to real estate, and now to yachts. But it was not a case of scattered growth. I tend to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. When you are presented with an opportunity, I believe you should seize it. I relish taking on new challenges. Every time I have changed jobs, it was because I saw a challenge and a business opportunity for growth.

In 2004, the Institute for International Research (IIR) in the Middle East offered me the post of exhibition director of Cityscape. Some years later, the opportunity to launch the Abu Dhabi Yacht Show came my way. I was offered the position as the group director of the Informa Yacht Group and as it was a new industry, I found it quite exciting. I thought it was time to take on a new challenge.

The yacht show was a tremendous challenge because Abu Dhabi was not a traditional cruising destination when compared to Europe or the Caribbean. But I believed in the potential of this region. If you believe in something and work hard at it, the plan will work. We worked consistently in promoting this event all over the world. We sought to put Abu Dhabi on the map as a prime yachting destination, and I'm proud to say that it worked.

I,ME, MYSELF

The Abu Dhabi Yacht Show has been compared to the Monaco Yacht Show. How do they measure up?

The Abu Dhabi Yacht Show is in its second edition this year. Last year it was held at the Adnec Exhibition Centre in Abu Dhabi. But this year it is going to be held at Yas Marina which is very a nice tailor-made venue to host an event of this quality.

The venue is superb and it does, in some ways, mirror the Monaco Yacht Show, which has the Monaco F1 Grand Prix as its backdrop. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix takes place at the Yas Marina circuit, so the similarities are obvious. In future, both events will complement each other. As organisers, we own both events and they are under the same format.

The Abu Dhabi Yacht Show is prestigious and hosts boats that are over 25 metres long, making it very exclusive. Some of the boats are up to 160 metres long. The reason that we and our main sponsors, the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, decided to differentiate this show from ones which involve all kinds of marine equipment (such as small boats and diving equipment, jet skis, fishing boats and so on) is that there are already existing shows specialising in the smaller marine equipment.

You'll find the same clientele at the Abu Dhabi show as the one in Monaco. Perhaps this is because there is a parallel between the lifestyle on offer and the one on offer in Monaco. Again, it is a mirror effect.

Will Abu Dhabi become the next cruising destination?

We had a very good response to the first show, which took place last year. Obviously, the fact that we were linked to the Monaco Yacht Show was a great help, even though we still had our own independent team and contacts.

The fact that the Abu Dhabi Government has been extremely supportive in enabling and promoting yachts to be brought to Abu Dhabi has also meant a great deal. There are many attractive reasons for those in the yacht industry to be interested in this part of the world. Abu Dhabi has over 200 natural islands which play host to building shipyards and marinas.

It's becoming a cruising destination to rival the Caribbean in winter. Travellers would like to come here from south east Asia. The infrastructure in the emirate is another notable attraction.

These factors encouraged many companies to come and participate in the first show. Because of the show's success, we decided to make it an annual event and so have been developing it. The event has grown by about 40 per cent since last year in terms of the number of companies participating. The number of visitors are also expected to grow dramatically when compared to last year.

You are surrounded by luxury. Can you live without it?

I am a very open-minded person and I can live very comfortably in a nice and luxurious environment - just as anyone can! But at the same time, I don't really care for it. Things come and go, and I would be perfectly happy simply sailing around the world with very few material possessions.

I would love to travel around the world, meeting different people, experiencing different cultures and engaging with others' traditions and value systems.

I do not worry about not having material things. If I can afford it, I will lead a comfortable lifestyle, but I can also go hiking with just a backpack and not need anything more. I can live both ways and I enjoy them equally.

More importantly, I like to think that I have done something to improve the life of the people around me. I'd like to have left something good behind.