Attendance, sales up for Strictly Sail St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Strictly Sail St. Petersburg, held Nov. 4-7 at the Vinoy Basin, attracted higher attendance over last year and major exhibitors reported strong sales, organizers said in a press release yesterday.

Sunny skies and sailing-perfect winds brought out nearly 10,000 show-goers for the event. Approximately 2,000 attendees took part in the seminars that were offered and 750 show-goers took their first steps into sailing through the show’s Discover Sailing program, the highest number to enjoy the program in a single Discover Sailing event, organizers said.

“I’m thrilled with the results, because we went into the show in the midst of the uncertainty of the general election and after Florida had experienced the hurricanes,” said Scot West, executive director of Sail America, the show’s producer. “So the fact that we increased our attendance and exhibitors reported that sales were up is very promising for the show for the next several years.”

Overall, reports from major exhibitors indicated sales would significantly exceed last year’s levels.

“I think the show is among the very best St. Pete shows we ever had with over
$1 million in sales and more coming,” said Bill Bolin, vice president of sales and marketing for Island Packet Yachts of Largo, Fla. “The Strictly Sail St. Petersburg location at the Vinoy Basin is by far the most desirable venue in our whole show lineup.”

Geoff McCord, eastern regional sales manager for Beneteau USA, Inc., said
the St. Petersburg show is “a wonderful setting that really highlights and displays the lifestyle we’re selling. We were very pleased with the show in terms of the number of people and the quality of people that came to our display as well as the show results in sales.“

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