PIMEX 2005 announces aggressive media plan

by Event Media on 16 Sep 2005 With 85 percent of air-conditioned space sold, more than half the water berths taken and a good chunk of hardstand space reserved, Phuket International Marine Expo (PIMEX) 2005 is looking to be a great success this year.

To help ‘get the word out’, PIMEX organisers start a campaign next week through UK-based IBI News’ website and newsletter, one of the leading marine industry information sources.

‘PIMEX, though, is about much more than the marine industry in isolation,” said Grenville Fordham, PIMEX Managing Director. ‘Thailand, the show’s home base, is unique in its combination of great marine playgrounds, top quality tropical homes and world-class resorts. It is this combination, together with the progressive liberalization on regulations affecting boat ownership and usage, which drive PIMEX and ensure it remains the premier boating and lifestyle show in the region,’ he added.

This is a view borne out by Phil Vidal, Business Manager of Australian International Marine Export Group (AIMEX), a veteran of countless international boat shows: ‘With the current activity in the Asian leisure market, AIMEX and its members feel we are getting greater value by exhibiting at the Phuket Boat show, rather than any other show in the region’.

Nevertheless, the greatest challenge facing PIMEX is attracting high numbers of visitors to the island. ‘We don’t have a huge resident population like Hong Kong or Singapore. This means we need to work harder to get people to come to the show. At the same time, it means those who do come are seriously interested,’ said Fordham.

As part of that drive, and recognizing the synergy between the tropical homes and the marine leisure markets, PIMEX has reached agreement this year to publish a full colour supplement in one Thailand’s leading English language daily newspapers, with a circulation of 75,000 and readership in the hundreds of thousands.

Further targeting this market, PIMEX organizers will run a series of advertisements in other regional property and lifestyle publications.
‘This is in addition to an intensified campaign aimed at placing editorial in regional and national, Thai language, media,’ said Fordham, adding, ‘When you compare our 2004 visitor numbers at 4,000 with a ‘record attendance’ of 6,000 at a recent boat show in the region, and take into account the comparative size of the resident populations, it is clear that PIMEX draws more serious visitors than any other regional show.’