Detroit Boat Show attendance up 3%
An additional 1,606 people attended the Detroit Boat Show in 2017 over last year, increasing attendance 3 percent to 69,169, show organizers reported.
The show, which ran February 11-19, added 50,000 square feet sold for a total of 400,000 square feet in 2017.
“Along with our bigger footprint came bigger boats,” Nicki Polan, show manager, said in a statement. “We had twice as many cruisers on the floor this year as compared to last year.”
Several dealers also reported strong results.
“The 2017 Detroit Boat Show was record setting for Grand Pointe Marina,” said Chris Stevens of Grande Pointe Marina in Sterling Heights and Lansing. “From small fishing boats to large center consoles, sport boats, and sport yachts, we crushed our personal sales goals and nearly tripled our results from previous years.”
“Attendance certainly appeared to be up over last year and, more importantly, our show sales increased substantially. We are looking forward to an early spring and double digit sales gains this season,” said Mike Tusa of Mike’s Marine Supply in St. Clair Shores.
“It is fun to meet people that have the same passion about boating as we do. Our sales were good again this year and that makes Cobo the best boat show of the year,” said Mark Munger of Bee’s Sports in St. Johns.
The special edition, 60th anniversary of the Detroit Boat Show will be held at Cobo Center February 17-25, 2018. The Detroit Boat Show is produced by the Michigan Boating Industries Association, a state-wide marine trade association representing Michigan’s $7.4 billion boating industry. For more information on the Detroit Boat Show, go to detroitboatshow.net. For more information about MBIA go to www.mbia.org.
