South Florida Business Journal - by Bill Frogameni
While attendance may be down at the 49th annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show and boat sales have run into choppy seas, some positive signs persist for both the show and boat sales across South Florida.
The show, which ran Oct. 30 through Nov. 3, saw a 4 percent decrease in attendance from last year for all of the days of the show, excluding the final Monday, a show spokeswoman said.
Show Management, the managerial agency, did not immediately provide exact headcounts for each day or final figures. The spokeswoman estimated that between 130,000 and 140,000 people attended last year.
Sales figures may not be available until a week after the show ends, but the general outlook was positive, according to Show Management COO Andrew Doole.
The financial crisis caused some concern for vendors and show organizers, he said. Still, “I think everybody here is pleasantly surprised at the crowd we’ve got.”
The crowd was relatively steady, thanks to increased marketing efforts abroad. The show targeted Russia, the Middle East and South America, in particular, Doole said. The result: a 15 percent increase in international attendance.
International attendance was helped by the fact that many new marinas have been built in Central and South America and the value of the U.S. dollar, which, until recently, had declined against many foreign currencies, Doole said.
“The boats here are a bargain at the moment,” he noted.
While the dollar and the soft market for smaller boats have caused many price tags to drop, not every boat is a bargain. Some brokers and builders said the megayacht sector –those boats longer than 80 feet and often priced in the millions – are selling just fine.
“Under 100 feet or under 80 feet, those guys are dying,” said Tim Johnson, a broker at International Yacht Collection’s Fort Lauderdale office. But, since most of International Yacht Collection’s boats are “well above” 100 feet and its clientele is extremely affluent, the company’s business is steady, he said.
“People ask me on a daily basis: ‘Isn’t the price of fuel affecting your business?’ Oh, give me a break,” Johnson said.
Mike Dickman, director of marketing for HMY Yacht Sales in Dania Beach, said that most of HMY’s boats are in the mid range – 45 feet to 80 feet – exposing them to more market pressure than the biggest boats. Still, early sales from this year’s show forecast a better year than last, he said.
The credit crunch may make financing a boat more difficult, but it didn’t play a large role, said Frank Herhold, executive director of Marine Industries Association of South Florida. However, it could impact lower-end sales where the industry is seeing a slowdown, he said.
“My gut feeling is [getting financing is] a little bit tougher but it’s there,” Herhold said. “I haven’t had dealers tell me they lost a sale because they couldn’t get financing.”
At any rate, the high-end deals are mostly cash, he noted.
South Florida Business Journal reported data in late September showing that new boat sales here declined 26 percent for the first half of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007.
The decline is a large concern for the marine industry, which has an estimated $13.5 million impact on the region and accounts for more than 150,000 jobs.
source: South Florida Journal
Rory Vanucchi
RoryVanucchi@gmail.com
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