2021 Melbourne International Boat Show cancelled

It is the second time in two years that the show will not go ahead. Last year's event, which was to also celebrate the 60th running of the Melbourne International Boat Show, was cancelled as most of Victoria's population was placed under months of one of the most severe COVID-19 lockdowns worldwide.

This year, though, it's a different problem, with exhibitors unable to fill stands with products as sales boom and the supply of boats from COVID-19 hit overseas manufacturers dealing with booming sales in their home markets slows down.

The Boating Industry Association of Victoria (BIAV), which hosts the event, said it would now look forward to the 2022 show.

"After detailed consideration of all event-related factors, the BIAV board has decided to postpone the [June 17-20] 2021 event and allow the industry full recovery opportunities before delivering another world-class boat show in 2022," it said in a statement announcing that this year's show would not go ahead.

“The board weighed up the current stock, supply and timeline challenges that exhibitors were facing, and the fact that some won’t have stock to show”, BIAV president David Meehan said.

“In a way, these are good problems to have, and it’s great to see such energy and demand across all facets of the industry.

"However, the downside is our inability to deliver a show that will meet both visitor and industry expectations.

"We will be back in 2022 with a refreshed and exciting new show program for our 60th show; the planning of which is already underway."

However, biat brands keen to be at the 2022 show won't have long to decide, with the BIAV planning to lock in the exhibitor list for the 2022 show by April this year.

"While this may seem like an early close date for a 2022 show it is vital to enable all exhibitors to successfully reserve their place and provide commitment to order stock to arrive in time for this event, with confidence, knowing their approximate stand size and draft floorplan layout that they expect to receive," the BIAV said.

In the meantime, the BIAV plans to hold a mix of smaller events to help the industry recover from the effects of the pandemic.

"We haven’t stopped there for 2021/22; also on the BIAV event agenda are outdoor, activation events in October and February this coming spring/summer," it said.

"Watch this space as these event plans are developed with a real focus on new entrants to the Discover Boating market, on-water demonstrations, displays, entertainment, and fantastic opportunities to exhibit boats, equipment and all things boating."

The BIAV said the smaller shows held later in the year and early in 2022 would give exhibitors enough time to order stock.

"It is expected also, that these events being outdoor in the sun, will help with any lingering [COVID-19] challenges," it said.

"These events will lend themselves ideally to new entrants coming into the market which we’ve seen in recent months as being at unprecedented levels, and something for the industry to really capitalise on."

It said more information about the "exciting new events/activations" would be released "in coming weeks".

The BIAV said the 60th Melbourne International Boat Show would run from June 16-19, 2022.

The Melbourne boat show cancellation leaves only the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, Sydney International Boat Show, Sydney International Boat Show and Brisbane Boat Show as events still scheduled to run this year.