Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show Numbers ‘Way Up’ this year

Starmark’s creation of new branding for Show Management and the 2015 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show helped to support the “Best selling show in the past 10 years.”

“Our new brandmark promotes Fort Lauderdale as well as the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS),” Show Management CEO Skip Zimbalist III said. “And we think it’s outstanding.”

Boat Show sales this year saw increases of 11 percent with vessels in the 80- to 100-foot category and in the 126-foot -and-up category, sales were up 14 percent over last year. In addition to boats, exhibitors also sold a $1.4 million Bugatti car and contracted a $4.1 million Bell helicopter. One boat dealer sold about 90 vessels for $40 million.

Zimbalist expressed that overall sales were “way up” for the “super bowl” of boating events. This year’s show was the largest it has ever been in terms of overall square footage of exhibit space. Customers attended the show from more than 34 countries to view new products such as a Worx SYS3 Submarine. As the world’s largest in-water boat show, 1,000+ exhibitors covered seven locations totaling more than 3 million square feet of exhibit space. In addition to boats, on display was fishing gear, marine art and jewelry which were among the most popular items.

The 57th annual Boat Show, owned by the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, will be held November 3-7, 2016 and Starmark will be working over the next 11 months to contribute to adding momentum to one of Florida’s largest events in an industry that represents 110,000 jobs and $8.8 billion in economic impact for Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County.