Vancouver Boat Show
Boating B.C.
The 52nd annual Vancouver International Boat Show closed Sunday, January 26, with the onsite sales and leads generated during the 5-day show forecasting a positive 2014 for Western Canada’s boating industry.
With BC Place hosting the indoor venue and Granville Island providing a truly nautical setting for the floating show, the 2014 Boat Show celebrated new earlier dates that offered exhibitors an opportunity to start the boating season off early, and introduce new consumers to boating in BC. Upwards of 31,338 people attended the two venues over the course of the five-day event, a 4% decrease from the previous year.
“This year has been our best year ever at the Vancouver Boat Show,” says Dave Turner from Port Boat House. “We were selling steadily throughout the show and have seen crowds of enthusiastic buyers come through this year. We were also excited to see new customers from Alberta and the interior of BC come down for the show.”
“The weather was on our side this year. We have noticed that attendees arrived very motivated and excited to get out on the water this summer,” says Bob Pappajohn, President and CEO, M&P Mercury. “We finished the show on a strong note with significant increase in sales from last year.”
The show floor saw a big increase in qualified buyers, as noticed by Aaron Fell, owner of Breakwater Marine. “We had a lot of success with the quality of traffic at the show and were thrilled with the sales generated. We definitely surpassed our sales goals this year.”
Brendan Keys from GA Checkpoint also remarked on the type of consumers that attended. “We really noticed a difference in the quality customers that came through this year. Overall our sales were excellent, and we believe it’s a good sign for things to come for the upcoming boating season.”
Salim Ladha from Steveston Marine found the overall attendance wasn’t a considerable factor to their end sales. “We did find the attendance to be steady and our overall sales were good; on par with the success we had back in 2012.”
The new show dates started the season off earlier than ever before. Greg Hughes from Blackfish Marine commented, "I thought the new show dates really worked in our favour this year. I found it was a great opportunity for people to shop locally and see some of the great deals we have here in BC. The weather made for a great atmosphere down at Granville Island where we were successful in generating a lot of solid leads and fantastic sales."
The addition of new feature programming and attractions, including the S.S. Minnow that accompanied Gilligan’s Island castaway, Dawn Wells, and the Submersibles, proved to be big draws for the public and media. Once again the expanded seminar series was well received, offering attendees more than 100 seminars spanning across three seminar rooms. Attendees were also excited to see Dawn Wells extend her stay at the show, attracting a continuous lineup of fans who waited eagerly to meet her.
“This year’s media coverage generated was unprecedented. The additional features and seminars provided strategic content that resulted in a high level of media interest. We could not have been more pleased with the effectiveness of this year’s marketing strategies,” says Show Manager Eric Nicholl. “Even though attendance figures were down slightly, the show delivered motivated buyers that exceeded dealers’ expectations.”
The show continued marketing efforts targeting the Asian community’s attendance and interest in boating, with the return of the Introduction to Boating and the Boating Lifestyle seminar and show tour, presented in Mandarin by Wilson Kao. A certified boating instructor and local yacht salesman, Kao offers years of experience and a wealth of knowledge about BC’s boating market.
Historically the show has been held in mid-February, which now coincides with the new Family Day long weekend in British Columbia. The show was moved to new, earlier dates in January this year in order to accommodate a more favorable time frame for both exhibitors and consumers.
Dates for the 53rd Vancouver International Boat Show will be confirmed once show staff has had an opportunity to review desired and available future date patterns with exhibitors, Boating BC, and BC Place.