Melbourne Show wraps up

After four days, the Melbourne Boat Show has concluded on a high note with organisers saying that record attendance and plenty of positive feedback from exhibitors and visitors alike, cementing its status as the premier boating event in Victoria.

This year’s Show saw 29,179 visitors pass through the gates of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, over four days from June 12 to 15. This eclipses last year's total of 28,018 visitors over five days. In addition to this, over 130 exhibitors participated in the event including boat brokers and retailers, chandleries, fishing tackle and accessories, boat trailer manufacturers, personal watercraft retailers and more. 

"We had very good sales at this year’s show," said Leon Savage of Streaker Boats, a leading Victorian manufacturer of fibreglass boats. "I thought the layout was great and highly conducive to exhibitors. I commend the organisers on a job well done."

For Jeanneau dealer Rohan Veal of 38 South Boat Sales, the Show was a hit: "As this is the first time the European Jeanneau outboard range has been on display at the Melbourne Boat Show, we were extremely impressed with the level of interest, however we did not expect anywhere near the level of interest in the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 379 that we had on display after allowing visitors full access to boat," said Veal. "We also did not expect any potential sales of yachts which it looks like we now have, let alone the potential sale of a Prestige 500 flybridge worth around $1.2 million to an overseas visitor who came to the show wanting a Melbourne delivery before the end of the year."

The Show also proved to be a success for fishing tackle retailer Monster Fish. "Our sales were up by 25 per cent from the last Melbourne Boat Show," said James Karvounaris of Monster Fish. "It was the best Show ever for us, with fantastic crowds and good flow of traffic with the layout."

Along with the hundreds of boats on display, visitors were provided with appearances from Australia’s leading fishing and boating personalities such as Paul Worsteling of Channel Ten’s iFish, Lee Rayner star of Fishing Edge, Darren Finklestein, the 'Boat Guy' and Todd and Rick Kelly, V8 Supercar drivers and race boat owners just to name a few. In addition, there were family casting clinics, fishing along the Yarra and activities to win lots of prizes.

"We’re extremely pleased with the amount of positive feedback we’ve received from exhibitors and visitors alike," said Steven Potts, CEO of the Boating Industry Association of Victoria. "We wanted to produce a show that had colour, excitement and movement and I believe we’ve exceeded all expectations of that."

Next year’s show will be held from June 17 to 20, 2016, again at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre.