53rd Annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show® Shines After Stormy Start
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he 53rd annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show wrapped up on a high note with sunshine and pleasant temperatures following inclement weather the first two days of the five-day event. Despite the weather, exhibitors reported serious buyers, qualified leads and closed deals during the first two days, while the weekend attracted near record-breaking attendance.
You don’t have enough money to pay for a days fuel. The show brought in over $500,000,000 to Ft. Lauderdale and exhibitors’ pockets.
“After being down 30 percent during the first two days because of Hurricane Sandy, attendance was very strong the last three days and finished down just 2 percent over last year for the show overall,” said Efrem “Skip” Zimbalist III, CEO of Show Management, the company that manages and produces the show. “The number of boats in the water was up 10 percent, with new boats up 14 percent and brokerage up 4 percent. Boats under 80 feet were particularly strong, up 13 percent over 2011, as were brokerage boats over 126 feet, which were 15 percent ahead of last year.”
Several noteworthy show enhancements were introduced this year, beginning with the new entrance layout, which efficiently accommodated crowds even during the show’s busiest hours.
“This year’s Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show was the best in years,” said Skip Braver, CEO/president of Cigarette Racing Team, LLC. “We did business from the opening day through the close. The High Performance Dock, located just outside the entrance tents, was packed with people and Cigarette gave them a lot of variety. It was a very good show.”
Other enhancements this year included new directional signage and a cellphone tower brought in for improved reception, making navigating the largest in-water boat show in the world much easier. The show’s smartphone app, MyBoatShow, debuted new features designed to help keep attendees in sync with the vast array of choices and experiences, and to guide them to the exhibitors they wished to find.
“We broke all sales records and launched several products including the Yacht Controller Joystick, the Yacht Phone and the Yacht GraphX products,” said Gerald Berton, president of Yacht Controller LLC. “We enjoyed a great show in spite of the weather, making this the best FLIBS ever for us.”
Continually striving to find new ways to engage and delight attendees with innovative additions to their overall show experience, this year’s show included an aerial flyover and a fireworks display, both of which were received with great enthusiasm. As always, the outstanding selection of seminars from the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) and Hook The Future kids fishing clinics added to the excitement at the Broward County Convention Center show location, a show site that reaped benefits from Hurricane Sandy with high attendance numbers on Thursday and Friday. Additional fun for the kids was on deck this year with Bluefoot Pirate Adventures, which entertained kids with an onboard pirate treasure hunt experience.
“This was our best show in three years,” said George Cable, of Cable Marine. “We saw real customers this year, some of which showed up at our boatyard just two days after the show closed.”
“We appreciate all the support from all the hard working people at Show Management that helped make FLIBS a success,” said Joe Foggia, CEO of Christensen Shipyards. “From what we have experienced in recent months and the inquiries we are getting after the show, we are encouraged that the industry as a whole is rebounding.”
Trawler port at FLIBS
The 53rd Annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show took place this year at six locations: Bahia Mar Yachting Center, Hall of Fame Marina, Las Olas Municipal Marina, Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, Broward County Convention Center and Sails Marina and featured billions of dollars worth of boats, yachts, super yachts, electronics, engines and thousands of boating accessories from every major marine manufacturer and boat builder across The 53rdannual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show wrapped up on a high note with sunshine and pleasant temperatures following inclement weather the first two days of the five-day event. Despite the weather, exhibitors reported serious buyers, qualified leads and closed deals during the first two days, while the weekend attracted near record-breaking attendance.
“After being down 30 percent during the first two days because of Hurricane Sandy, attendance was very strong the last three days and finished down just 2 percent over last year for the show overall,” said Efrem “Skip” Zimbalist III, CEO of Show Management, the company that manages and produces the show. “The number of boats in the water was up 10 percent, with new boats up 14 percent and brokerage up 4 percent. Boats under 80 feet were particularly strong, up 13 percent over 2011, as were brokerage boats over 126 feet, which were 15 percent ahead of last year.”
Several noteworthy show enhancements were introduced this year, beginning with the new entrance layout, which efficiently accommodated crowds even during the show’s busiest hours.
“This year’s Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show was the best in years,” said Skip Braver, CEO/president of Cigarette Racing Team, LLC. “We did business from the opening day through the close. The High Performance Dock, located just outside the entrance tents, was packed with people and Cigarette gave them a lot of variety. It was a very good show.”
No shortage of visitors at the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center
Other enhancements this year included new directional signage and a cellphone tower brought in for improved reception, making navigating the largest in-water boat show in the world much easier. The show’s smartphone app, MyBoatShow, debuted new features designed to help keep attendees in sync with the vast array of choices and experiences, and to guide them to the exhibitors they wished to find.
“We broke all sales records and launched several products including the Yacht Controller Joystick, the Yacht Phone and the Yacht GraphX products,” said Gerald Berton, president of Yacht Controller LLC. “We enjoyed a great show in spite of the weather, making this the best FLIBS ever for us.”
The show stopper and crowd makers was at Dragonfly Boats. Their new Marsh Hen skiff and the Stand Up Paddle boards attracted both anglers and SUP folks who just wanted the best board made.
The Marsh Hen is 13-foot, 6-inches long with a 48-inch beam and weighs 140-pounds and can scoot with a 9.9HP engine. It can run in puddle depth water -$13,000 boat motor and trailer!Fit and finish at rated very high, A Mark Castlow signature.
Easy access to drain plug makes things real easy on the Marsh Hen
Ryan Stark, manufacturing manager was ready, friendly and able to answer any questions about the Dragonfly boats and SUP boards – technical or non-technical.
Continually striving to find new ways to engage and delight attendees with innovative additions to their overall show experience, this year’s show included an aerial flyover and a fireworks display, both of which were received with great enthusiasm. As always, the outstanding selection of seminars from the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) and Hook The Future kids fishing clinics added to the excitement at the Broward County Convention Center show location, a show site that reaped benefits from Hurricane Sandy with high attendance numbers on Thursday and Friday. Additional fun for the kids was on deck this year with Bluefoot Pirate Adventures, which entertained kids with an onboard pirate treasure hunt experience
“This was our best show in three years,” said George Cable, of Cable Marine. “We saw real customers this year, some of which showed up at our boatyard just two days after the show closed.
“We appreciate all the support from all the hard working people at Show Management that helped make FLIBS a success,” said Joe Foggia, CEO of Christensen Shipyards. “From what we have experienced in recent months and the inquiries we are getting after the show, we are encouraged that the industry as a whole is rebounding.”
The 53rd Annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show took place this year at six locations: Bahia Mar Yachting Center, Hall of Fame Marina, Las Olas Municipal Marina, Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, Broward County Convention Center and Sails Marina and featured billions of dollars worth of boats, yachts, super yachts, electronics, engines and thousands of boating accessories from every major marine manufacturer and boat builder across The 53rdannual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show wrapped up on a high note with sunshine and pleasant temperatures following inclement weather the first two days of the five-day event. Despite the weather, exhibitors reported serious buyers, qualified leads and closed deals during the first two days, while the weekend attracted near record-breaking attendance.
“After being down 30 percent during the first two days because of Hurricane Sandy, attendance was very strong the last three days and finished down just 2 percent over last year for the show overall,” said Efrem “Skip” Zimbalist III, CEO of Show Management, the company that manages and produces the show. “The number of boats in the water was up 10 percent, with new boats up 14 percent and brokerage up 4 percent. Boats under 80 feet were particularly strong, up 13 percent over 2011, as were brokerage boats over 126 feet, which were 15 percent ahead of last year.
Several noteworthy show enhancements were introduced this year, beginning with the new entrance layout, which efficiently accommodated crowds even during the show’s busiest hours.
“This year’s Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show was the best in years,” said Skip Braver, CEO/president of Cigarette Racing Team, LLC. “We did business from the opening day through the close. The High Performance Dock, located just outside the entrance tents, was packed with people and Cigarette gave them a lot of variety. It was a very good show.”
Other enhancements this year included new directional signage and a cellphone tower brought in for improved reception, making navigating the largest in-water boat show in the world much easier. The show’s smartphone app, MyBoatShow, debuted new features designed to help keep attendees in sync with the vast array of choices and experiences, and to guide them to the exhibitors they wished to find.
“We broke all sales records and launched several products including the Yacht Controller Joystick, the Yacht Phone and the Yacht GraphX products,” said Gerald Berton, president of Yacht Controller LLC. “We enjoyed a great show in spite of the weather, making this the best FLIBS ever for us.”
Continually striving to find new ways to engage and delight attendees with innovative additions to their overall show experience, this year’s show included an aerial flyover and a fireworks display, both of which were received with great enthusiasm. As always, the outstanding selection of seminars from the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) and Hook The Future kids fishing clinics added to the excitement at the Broward County Convention Center show location, a show site that reaped benefits from Hurricane Sandy with high attendance numbers on Thursday and Friday. Additional fun for the kids was on deck this year with Bluefoot Pirate Adventures, which entertained kids with an onboard pirate treasure hunt experience.
“This was our best show in three years,” said George Cable, of Cable Marine. “We saw real customers this year, some of which showed up at our boatyard just two days after the show closed.”
“We appreciate all the support from all the hard working people at Show Management that helped make FLIBS a success,” said Joe Foggia, CEO of Christensen Shipyards. “From what we have experienced in recent months and the inquiries we are getting after the show, we are encouraged that the industry as a whole is rebounding.”
The 53rdAnnual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show took place this year at six locations: Bahia Mar Yachting Center, Hall of Fame Marina, Las Olas Municipal Marina, Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, Broward County Convention Center and Sails Marina and featured billions of dollars worth of boats, yachts, super yachts, electronics, engines and thousands of boating accessories from every major marine manufacturer and boat builder across the globe, as well as exotic cars, clothing and jewelry.
[information]
Contact: (954) 776-1999 @ Pierson Grant Public Relations Daniel Grant, ext. 235, Maill to:dgrant@piersongrant.com
Marielle Sologuren, ext. 226 Maill to:msologuren@piersongrant.com
he Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show® is owned and sponsored by the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, managed and produced by Show Management and sponsored by Gosling’s Rum, Wavejet, Budweiser, Alexseal, CROC’s, BoatQuest.com, Seakeeper, Palm Harbor Marina, Smallwood’s, XMWX Satellite Weather, Yanmar, MTN Satellite Communications, and Yachts Magazine. “Like” the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show on Facebook at facebook.com/
[/information]
