Miami Boat Show Commentary...

We opted to pull out of the Miami show from a factory standpoint but we will have two boats there; one being represented by our South Florida dealer and the other will be in the Mercury in water display available for demo rides. If it wasn't for them we would not be anywhere near that show. Last year on Sunday of the show I could have putt a golf ball down the entire main ramp that had to be 1.4 mile long and not hit a single person.

Miami for us is the most difficult show by far logistically and just in general. The hotels are the most expensive, food is the most expensive especially with the 18% gratuity every restaurant automatically adds, the people are the rudest and most disrespectful out of any show we do and the show itself is proportionally expensive with hardly any return. The current Harald Plaza layout with the causeway in between really divides the show and the Sea Isle portion gets a fraction of the traffic the South end gets. Most everyone I talk to with displays inside the convention center say its just stroller central and very difficult to get real engaging conversations with potential customers.

We're taking the 60k we spend on a two boat display and instead are investing that into larger displays at Ft Lauderdale and Palm Beach. We used to love the Virginia Key location as it was convenient to sea trial, everything in one place etc but unfortunately the powers that be voted against it. Rumor on the docks is this will be the last year of Harald Plaza which I hope is true.

Back on Collins Ave that show produced sales. The industry outgrew that area and things never became buyer friendly.

So how was it? Up? Down? One small boat dealers who displayed at St Pete, a small show, said they are at recession sales figures. These are CC, outboard guys. How is the overall market?

Miami attendance seemed down but the buyer quality was decent. We had two boats in the show, one at Harald Plaza and one in the Mercury display at Venetian Marina doing sea trials. We did 19 sea trials in 5 days and out of that I had five people that I would consider to be a serious buyer. Time will tell but overall it was a decent show for Mag Bay. Lots of questions in the industry about the move back to Collins next year.