Opinions on the 2014 Miami Boat Show; Collins Avenue Display...

I've been to the show in the past for a day trip. This year we came over from Sarasota on Friday, got a hotel for two nights, and left on Sunday. Awesome time. Will do it again next year.

I never found boat shows much good for boat shopping with intent to purchase. Pure curiosity and killing time? Sure. Well, big boats at least; tenders, smaller boats, pretty good venue. I really love the Miami show as a place to shop for gear, and ask factory people questions about gear already owned or about to be purchased. There have been years where spent two or three days doing that and maybe a couple hours looking at the stuff on Collins. For example, one year we were looking into buying a new davit, and/or a new tender,, the show was a unduplicatable, very efficient resource for that.

Always parked up north and took a shuttle, (coming down A1A from Aventura/Hollywood) except made the mistake of parking @ the AA arena once. Didn't go this year, out of the big boat thing for the time being.

Sprung for a room at the Eden Roc that allowed for valet parking and about 30 steps to the hargrave ramp. Worth the extra cost.

I will beg to differ on that opinion. Boat Shows are about sales, pure and simple, always been and always will be. There is no other motivation behind it. Not ALL boat purchases are made at boat shows, but many do and many occur within the following few months after the show. In good times, a tremendous amount of sales are completed at shows, in worse times fewer. This years reports have been pretty good, with most boat builders now waiting to see what closes in the next 60 days.

It is very true boat shows have created a profitable venue for the organizations that put on the events. But I will tell you that it is about 100% sales for the Boat Manufacture's and the key vendors who are there to support this effort.

They are about exposure and potential sales. Not sales at or during the show. But, in some ways with the internet prevalence and other factors, they have moved away from the positive motivation of future sales to a more defensive frame of mind. That is, if I don't show at the show then I'll end up looking bad and lose the potential sale to someone who is there.

My statement was simply that people do not buy at the show itself. They don't go to a show, see a boat, and suddenly say, here's a check for $4 million for that one. But it may well be a step in the process of a sale, either a first meeting or a conclusion or just a reinforcement along the way.

It's also like any other type show I've ever seen (and this includes jewelry, apparel, boats, cars). Everyone comes out of it saying, "Our line or our new boat was very well received." They don't come out of it having sold three of the new 43 footer at the show. They also say, "We have serious interest in three boats that we hope to close in the next few weeks." That's an easy statement that sounds like a sale but most of the time never turns into one.

I'm not saying shows don't have their place. I am saying if they don't find a way to use the internet in conjunction with their show they are going to find that place diminishing. It's not like the days when the only way to see what was out there was go to the show. I'm also saying if they're not careful about their pricing they will continue to have fewer boats shown. In a time in which builders should be aggressively showing boats, there were fewer shown at the Miami show this year than last, especially large boats.

Any business model must continue to evolve as times change. Those models that have failed to embrace the internet have suffered. Even simple things. Flibs even had a detailed listing of what boats being shown and which slips. Miami had nothing. I didn't see any Miami advertising in magazines or online that targeted the "yacht" buying customer.

Boat shows are part of the sales process. But I still contend that doesn't mean sales are made at them in the sense of a new customer not seen before writes a check at the show.

Now if I was a builder, I'd show. But I'd be doing it as a tie in to other programs and I'd also probably do something like, "Brand X will be having our own show at XXXX Marina the week after the show for those who prefer to avoid the crowds of the show and also to give you more attention and show more of our models." And I'd be promoting it all online. And I do know some people interested in buying this year who came to the Miami show for pleasure but planned to stay and seriously look at boats the week after.

It depends how they do it. The internet is good for narrowing down the list to a couple of boats. But then those must be seen in person. At the show you can see them one right after the other many times. Also like what Cabo and Hatteras does. They have the same models of almost all of them, 10 miles away from the Collins and show and you can do a seatrial that day.....or multiple seatrials if you're torn between a 40' and 44 or 54' and 60'. This is great for the buyer as you're comparing the boats in the same sea conditions back to back. It helps the manufacturer because a lot of people trade up.

You are overthinking the process. If you would be closer to the "action" you would have a better understanding of who and how money is put down at shows and the deals that close thereafter.

Name a successful builder who does not have an active internet sales connection through the factory or multiple dealers - you can't because they already have one in place. Exclusive Factory shows, special events, dealer events, open house, cross marketing with other businesses, Costco, Mall displays, etc.. You really haven't stated anything that isn't being covered or done today, you seem to be lamenting today and wishing for something else but not realizing that a whole lot of effort is being thrown into internet based selling and the same things you are in favor of.

Impulse buying is tied into a vibrant economy, plenty of stories of people walking away from shows who didn't own a boat and now they are a "boater", during the heyday of boat sales. You have to keep in mind that overall boats sales were averaging 300,000 average per year, and now they are struggling to beat 100,000 a year, internet or not. The recreational spending footprint has totally changed (globally) and will not comeback for a various amount of reasons, including a newer generations that do not seem to have the same desire for outdoor activity as the ones prior, courtesy of our nifty internet.....

I have seen and worked with some creative sales people in the industry who continue to pull out all stops to make sure their company is a success. It is always a great feeling to reach success in selling a recreational product that nobody really needs but they may actually want, and if they have all done their job correctly - factory/dealer/suppliers, that customer will realize that he truly needs a boat in his life to compliment his lifestyle for a long time.

I agree that the cost of boating has crept up to levels that are disconcerting, and hopefully someone can capitalize on this issue. Would like to see a large scale effort at re-manufacturing some of the more desired name brands. This won't come from a new boat builder, as they do not want to compete with themselves, but could come from a more entrepreneurial minded boat repair facility, or some other venture that we have not seen before. The scale would have to be such that it would mimic production lines and capitalize on repeat processes and volume buying, not the individual restorations that pop up every now and then.

It was the Show's lack of internet marketing and their lacking web site I was actually lamenting. Now as to builders. You did qualify that as "successful" and that's good because I can name many builders that do a lousy job of internet marketing and have very weak web sites. Meanwhile there are others that do a good job and some that have recently upgraded their sites. There are builders hosting their sites with such poor providers that you have trouble seeing all they have. But still the main point I was making, which you're free to disagree with, is that I believe the Miami Boat Show under-utilized the internet in marketing their show.

What is missing from their website that markets their show?

http://www.miamiboatshow.com/attendees/default.aspx

Home Show information Buy tickets Who's Exhibiting Preview Products Things to do Learn

Upon re-looking at their website, I back off criticizing it as I just discovered some aspects of it I had not before. However, their efforts to draw people to it still seemed to me to have room for improvement. I look at nearly all yachting and boating web sites and do not recall seeing any ads for the show. I also didn't see a lot of notices on sites that post them. Did I just miss it and they really had ads that drew many to their web site? Only they know the numbers. I just know that to me the visibility and promotion seemed to be somewhat below what I would suggest. Now, perhaps they wanted to do more but just found the costs prohibitive. If I didn't live here, I'm not sure I would have been aware of it.

You and the rest of the world only needed to check here, to be aware.

Easy as one, two, three...

Step 1: YachtForums - An Online Yachting Magazine

Step 2: Boat Shows & Yacht Watching - YachtForums.Com

Step 3: http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/b...22212-superyacht-miami-without-lifestyle.html

I was aware. This issue all came up from the showing of fewer boats and the lower attendance. One can either say it's the economy or the weather or the Olympics or anything else or one can evaluate and look for ways to improve it. In my opinion some advertising on sites and in magazines yacht owners and purchasers visit and read would be a way. That's all I'm saying. One can disagree. Maybe it's instead the rising costs of showing boats and then as some choose not to show as many, fewer people come. Whatever the reasons, all the accounts I've heard say there were fewer boats and fewer people and that's not good for the show.

Maybe they're diluting their own attendance with other shows. Fortunately, it's not my problem to solve as I have no financial interest in their company.

What do you think has led to the decline, especially this year over last?

Part of the problem, at least with the Lauderdale show, is that the prices to put a boat in the show are so high. For a yacht brokerage firm to put a used boat in the show, it has to be worth $800k or so, or the commission won't be worth paying for the show fee.

YF Admin provided a good synopsis of the situation - no need to re-invent the wheel.

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/g...how;-collins-avenue-display-2.html#post190580


P.S.- Let us not forget that the Show has a positive economic impact.

Progressive Insurance Miami International Boat Show Announces $597M Economic Impact | Miami Beach

I went to the show on Thursday and found it very valuable in hunting for a center console. In one afternoon I climbed onto center consoles from Pursuit, Robalo, Mako, Wellcraft, SeaVee, Cobia, Boaton Whaler, Edgewater, Everglades and more. I went to the in-water show at Sea LIne marina and took demo rides in a couple that interested me.

Yes, the traffic was dismal -- the show shuttle bus from Sea Line to the brokerage area took over an hour. But parking at the hotel garage next to Sea Line was a breeze for $30 or so. Almost every major and many minor manufacturers were there with factory reps who were knowleadgeable about gritty details on the boats.

Boat shows are invaluable for someone who wants to compare details, features, specs and pricing on a particular class of boats. The Miami SHow is huge and there are logistical hassles but I enjoy it and will probably attend in the future.

Interesting to hear the CC's were so well represented.

Not only were center console manufacturers well represented, many came away from the show with big smiles. Hardly any center consoles were made or sold between 2008 and 2012 -- two major boat dealers told me they did not order one new boat for inventory between 2009 and 2012. Now that demand has picked up measurably, the inventory of well-maintained, late model center consoles has been picked clean. Many used boats on the market are priced almost like a new boat. Boat dealers sold quite a few center consoles at Miami from what I heard.

I have never bought a new boat over 38 years of owning small and nearly small boats until this year. A scarcity of reasonably-priced, lightly-used center consoles made a leftover 2013 new boat seem like the best deal for me.