Buyers flock to Rosehill Trailerboat Show

by Bob Wonders on 10 Mar 2010 There were smiles all round following the staging of the annual Rosehill Trailerboat Show in Sydney over the weekend of March 6 and 7.

Attendance of more than 11,000 smashed last year's turnout by more than 900 and it was difficult, if not impossible, to find an exhibitor without a positive take on the show.

Compared to recent exhibitions, the number of boats sold bordered on astonishing!

Organised by the Boating Industry Association of NSW, the show has emerged as perhaps the best regional boat show in Australia.

Formerly known as The Great Silverwater Boat Show and staged on the banks of the Parramatta River, only a coupe of kilometres from Rosehill, the show has gone from strength to strength since moving into the modern Rosehill Gardens Event Centre.

More than 50 exhibitors displayed their goods and services over the weekend with boats, marine engines, electronics, water ski and scuba equipment, fishing tackle, boat trailers, inflatables, canoes and kayaks and general boating accessories on show.

Domenic Genua, the association's marketing and event manager, said the exhibitors deserved praise for the standard of their displays.

'We deliberately stage the show as an informal, almost laid-back exhibition, yet our members put in a lot of effort to stage attractive and easy to access displays, all of which helps attract prospective buyers,' he said.

While it may rate only as a small, regional boat show, Rosehill has shown that there is plenty of life in the industry following the global financial crisis.

Boat show and industry veteran Steve Parker (Lewis Ski Boats) described Rosehill, 2010 as 'the best ever.'

'This has been better for us than the Sydney International Boat Show,' he declared.

Research undertaken last year by the association revealed that many visitors to the Rosehill event were not confined to the Sydney metropolitan area, but in fact came from as far away as the NSW Central Coast and the Blue Mountains.

'They weren't wrong there,' Parker added, 'we sold one boat to a gentleman from Port Macquarie.'

Bob James, proprietor of Gold Coast-based Horizon Aluminium Boats, supported Parker's comments.

'My Sydney dealership (Neken Marine, Mona Vale) spoke to many customers from the Central Coast and from the Blue Mountains and as far south as Nowra,' he said.

It was an outstanding show for Horizon with nine boats sold.

'Fishing boats dominated our sales and I've heard the situation was similar from other exhibitors,' he added.

During the show I spoke with numerous exhibitors and did not hear a single, negative comment.

Kylie Short (Andrew Short Marine) described the show as 'very successful' for the dealership.

'There was heavy activity on the Saturday with crowds swarming through the gates as early as 9am, 'she said.

'Numbers seemed a little down on the Sunday, but the quality was higher and we increased sales on the Saturday total. 'There was a great deal of interest in entry-level boats and we increased sales compared to previous years.

'All in all an excellent show for Andrew Short Marine with some strong follow-up to give us a positive approach to the Easter break,' she added.

Mark Suttle, Honda Marine manager for Queensland and Northern NSW, was another to lavish praise on the Rosehill exhibition.

'It was very good indeed for Honda Marine,' he said, 'with all our dealers reporting strong interest.

'TR Marine and Webbe Marine both achieved excellent sales and I thought the attendance was outstanding,' he added.

Always on the lookout to introduce new appeal to its boat shows, the BIA of NSW tried something different this year in the form of Marine Industry Workshops and Trade Events.

An impressive array of speakers was on hand, presenting various papers aimed at providing information to business owners, management and staff.

The speakers included Ken Evans (ex-Mercury Marine director), Nick Richards (NSW Maritime), Matt Freedman (E-Marketing), Penny Nicholson (WorkCover, NSW), Jessica Stefano (I.C.Frith and Associates) and Blake Briggs (NSW Business Chamber).

Subjects covered included bio fuels (Ken Evans), industrial relations (Blake Briggs), managing workers compensation costs (Jessica Stefano), navigation lights and compliance requirements (Nick Richards), workers compensation responsibilities (Penny Nicholson) and how to use e-mail marketing to increase business (Matt Freedman).

'We believe the event went over well, but this was our first attempt and we will continue to fine tune the affair to meet our member's demands,' Domenic Genua explained.

Perhaps the best way conclude a report on the 2010 Rosehill Trailerboat Show is simply to point out the positive outlook enjoyed by exhibitors.

The buyers came and they came in numbers and what better way to wrap up a boat show report?