As I write this the Auckland Boat Show is hanging on by a thread and may yet be another victim, of Covid 19. As we reported last week, the Auckland Boat Show and the Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Shows are both far from certain. While the traffic light system is in the red, neither show will go ahead. While the Hutchwilco have a plan B to maybe go later in mid-year, no so for the Auckland show, which will simply be cancelled…again.
I have always been a fan of boat shows as both a visitor and an exhibitor, but are they still as important as they were pre Covid and much earlier? I have attended just about every boat show in Auckland, Sydney and Sanctuary Cove in the past 30 plus years and will keep doing while they are still on.
What is interesting is while all shows are bulging with exhibitor bookings, there are still some in the industry that say they are no longer required and will not be exhibiting. With bookings for new trailer boats and motor yachts in some cases out till 2023, the feeling is why bother.
Personally, I reckon the shows are still an important marketing tool. With over 30,000 punters going through the Hutchwilco NZ Boat Show, I doubt they are all there simply for a day out. There are serious buyers amongst them as is recorded at every show. If you are not there then you miss out. Okay, you can have your own show on your premises but does that bring in those that have no brand allegiance and go to the show to see what is on offer before settling on a brand and model. They may attend a couple of shows before they decide on what they want so being at the show, could very well sow the seed for a buyer next year.
Prior to the Covid crisis putting the shows on hold there has been a lot of new brands keen to take the space left by established Kiwi builders who have opted out doing shows, or sometimes picked between just one in Auckland. These have been both local, mostly alloy and imported, from Europe and the USA.
If there are no boat shows in Auckland this year the industry will still continue to boom and people will still buy boats. But as the late Roger Arkell of Roger’s Boat Shop used to tell me.” I can’t get 30,000 people over my boat yard in 12 months and at the show I have them, in four days”. And Roger sold a lot of boats and motors at the shows.
