Brisbane International Boat Show hailed a success

by Bob Wonders on 5 Sep 2007 Queenslanders chasing the dream of leisure time on the water helped boost sales at the 47th Brisbane International Boat Show, which closed last Sunday after five action-packed days at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Exhibitor feedback was positive, with a number of boats in the $150,000 price bracket confirmed sold. There was international interest, too, with one European buyer representing 25 dealerships on hand to meet with several local trailer boat manufacturers.

Although attendance, provisionally 27,000, was down slightly compared to previous years, Barry Hibberd, general manager of show organiser Marine Queensland, said he was well satisfied with the result.

An independently audited attendance figure will be released shortly.

'Due to a recent ‘flu outbreak, attendance at the Brisbane agricultural show at the Ekka was down 30 percent and I think there was still that caution around,' he explained.

'Nevertheless, I’m confident the show has again demonstrated the strength of the Queensland recreational boating industry, which now employs more than 11,000 and achieved $2.6 billion in sales last year.

'Importantly, many of the 160-plus exhibitors have said they were very happy with the event and will continue to record sales over the next couple of months form inquiries generated at the show,' he added.

New product as always was a show highlight, with several manufacturers, including Ally Craft, Ensign, Lewis, Bayliner, Maxum, Kencraft, Whittley and Horizon among those launching new models.

Gary Brenchley, managing director of Springwood Marine, said the dealership had doubled its 2006 figures. 'We did exceptionally well and interestingly it was at the higher end,' he said. 'We were ecstatic at that, with boats in the $130,000 to $140,000 range very, very good for us. ' Four Winns did well as did Kevlacat.

'There was certainly competition at the lower end; Haines Signature did double last year’s figures and we also sold plenty of outboard engines.' Greg Haines (The Haines Group) rated 2007 the best show so far this season. 'It was great for us and we sold a number of boats, most in the $40,000 - $60,000 price range,' he said. 'Outboard sales were fantastic, and there were quite a few buyers taking advantage of re-power packages opting out of their two-stroke engines in favour of the four-stroke.'

Bruce Cunningham (Cunningham Marine) was another to praise the show. 'The numbers may have been marginally down, but there was no shortage of quality buyers,' he said. 'We achieved sales across the board, from $800 tinnies through to a $100,000-plus Seaswirl.

'Since the show closed we’ve been very busy with people who visited the show coming back for a second look.'

Andrew Bennett, of major Queensland Sea Ray distributor Queensland Marine Centre, said 2007 gave the company its best result in 10-years of exhibiting at the Brisbane event. 'At a rough guess, we’ve done about $2 million in sales,' he said. 'Our 26’ to 28’ size range proved popular, at a low to mid $100,000.
'We did sell a couple of the larger craft on the weekend'.

Well known industry identity Greg Nickerson (Northside Marine) described the show as 'above average.' 'We sold more at the top end of the trailer boat market and the people in attendance were genuine buyers. 'One sale which delighted us was of the $150,000 Whittley CR2800 cruisers, seen at the show for the first time,' he added.

Another highlight of the show was the $3000 Bream Classic. Competitors tagged and released 130 fish, with the winning crew Steve Wilson and Gavin Dunne (Team Evinrude) taking the pot of gold.

The show proved memorable for The Haines Group and Evinrude E-Tec distributor BRP Australia. They have now won awards for best display in their respective categories at the Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane shows.

Furuno Australia and GME were the other winners in the best display honours.

The 2008 Brisbane International Boat Show has been scheduled for August 27 – 31.

For further information contact Marine Queensland, telephone (07) 3899-3333.