Boating News
Miami Boat Show Buoyant Despite The Slow Economy
By Joseph Mann
The Miami International Boat Show, which closed its six-day exhibition Tuesday, logged over 147,000 visitors, up 4 percent from last year, show organizers said.
Despite the anemic economy, dealers reported strong sales at the event, which displayed over 3,000 boats at the Miami Beach Convention Center and two marinas in Miami.
"We're very pleased with the show," said Andy T. Lindstrom, a vice president at ChrisCraft, which sold about 20 boats at the exhibition. "Sales were better than expected, and we did very well with boats 28 feet and up."
Fred Peters, president of Albin Marine, said Albin also had good results. "The boating market is bouncing back and we're seeing that sales activities are stronger, especially at the Miami show," he said. "We did experience an increase in sales, and it was good to see that the level of interest in boating was still strong despite the weakened economy."
"Big boats have been dominating the market, but we've seen some movement in smaller boats, too," said Cathy Johnston, southern regional manager of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, which produced the Miami show. "After Sept. 11, people want to spend more quality time with their families, and they're finding that boating is a great way to do this."
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