Melbourne Boat Show indicates industry improvement

by Clyde Batty on 19 Jul 2012 Crowd numbers, direct sales and general interest levels at the 2012 Melbourne Boat Show indicate that the boating industry is burgeoning once again. Clyde Batty of the Boating Industry of Victoria who organised the Show said numbers were up around 10% on last year with around 34,000 people attending.

'Feedback indicated that Show exhibitors were very happy with this year's effort,' Mr Batty said.

'The public were very impressed by sheer size of the exhibition and the amount of boats on display that were available for purchase at very affordable prices.'

According to Peter Webb of Performance Marine, their group had its best boat show for many years. 'We had many orders for our award winning Spy range of performance ski and wake boats, sales off the floor with our flagship RX22 and XS22, and a large number of follow up demos to do with our new release SS21,' he said.

'Performance Marine have been in the industry for 30 years and have been to over twenty boat shows straight. Going by the interest at this year's Show, we see a great future designing, building and selling our own range of Australian Spy Boats.'

Mitchell Dean of JV Marine said they also experienced a great deal of success at the Show. 'We had an excellent spread of sales across our full range of boats and engines, and follow up has also been very positive with quite a few customers coming to JV Marine afterward to make a purchase as a result of our attendance at the Show.'

Dick Phillips, Event Coordinator for the Murray Charity Meander agreed. 'Representatives for our event have attended quite a few caravan and camping shows in the past, but this is the first time we participated in a boat show. I have to say it exceeded our expectations in terms of the amount of interest from visitors.'

'I was amazed at the number of people who indicated to us that they were looking at buying a new boat at the Show. Even better for us, we found that most visitors who showed interest in our charity event have it on their 'bucket list' to do a trip on the Murray one day, so our organised group approach is a perfect way for them to achieve that in a supported environment.'

The Show was held at the Melbourne Exhibition Center for the 52nd consecutive year and continues to act as the primary recreational boating lifestyle expo for both the industry and general public in the southern region of Australia. This year's event had a new, expanded area for wake, ski and tow sports.

Plans for next year's Show are now underway. Next year’s Melbourne Boat Show is scheduled for 14th to 17th June 2013.

More at www.biavic.com.au/melbourneboatshow/