IBEX attendance jumps by more than 1,000
MIAMI – Preliminary results indicate a record number of attendees passed through the halls of the Miami Beach Convention Center during the recently completed 2004 International Boatbuilders’ Exposition and Conference, show organizers have reported.
In a telephone interview with Boating Industry magazine this morning, IBEX co-director Carl Cramer said 5,326 people attended this year’s show, compared with 4,275 last year, but added that those numbers are only preliminary at this point.
Cramer said the registration company IBEX hires to track attendance had not yet to complete its work, but that early indications were that power boat builders were the largest segment of attendees – at 20 percent. Cramer also said that 47 percent of the attendees were builders of production boats, and that 28 percent were owners, presidents or CEOs.
“It was far and away the best show we’ve ever experienced,” Cramer said. “I know that wasn’t true for all exhibitors, because the floor expanded so much. But I think the net result was that there were many more people, we just didn’t have the apparent density we’ve had in the past because the floor was much bigger.”
Cramer said attendance could grow again for IBEX 2005, as organizers have scheduled next year’s show to take place one week earlier than the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, which this year began the day after IBEX ended.
“Clearly [IBEX] is a must-attend event for boat builders, designers repairers,” Cramer said.
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