Boating Industry Canada February 2016 - (Page 4)

INSIGHT BY ANDY ADAMS Early Report on the toronto International Boat show, 2016 edition THE 58TH TORONTO INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW opened Friday, January 8th for Preview Day and closed its doors Sunday January 17, 2016. I spent most of the ten days there and the mood was generally positive - not what I had anticipated given the Loonie's recent rapid decline. Canadian boat buyers have seen their purchasing power wither in the last 18 months when it comes to buying American-made or American-priced goods. While we had been at par, I just paid $1.4944 per US dollar for an upcoming trip south - big difference! But it seems that consumer sentiment is not ruled by just our exchange rate. First, the Toronto International Boat Show opened Friday January 8th for Preview Day with a 33% attendance increase compared to 2015. Show management reported that there were 1,973 consumer attendees with either Platinum ($100) or Gold ($35) tickets (1,484 in 2015, versus 1,340 in 2014) so, that looked really good. I would guess that the total lack of snow for skiing and snowmobiling contributed to the results for Saturday, January 9, a day that opened with huge lines at all three entrances, and a steady arrival of attendees throughout the day. Saturday's total attendance was 12,678, a 2% increase from the 2015 Saturday of 12,541. This was encouraging and the show floor was buzzing all day. Sunday's total attendance was 9,613, almost identical to the 2015 Sunday of 9,607. Monday's total attendance was 3,446, down a mere 99 people. Cumulative to date after Monday's count was 33,811 versus 33,409 in 2015 - an overall increase of 1%. Snow in the GTA and heavy snow outside of the GTA hit the attendance on Tuesday for 2,683 visitors, down 1,111 people from 2015. Next, Wednesday was 4,287, down 252 from 2015 and Thursday's attendance was 4,033, down 506. On Friday, 5,657 boaters attended, up 63 from the 2015 and on Saturday, 12,369 boaters attended the show, up 722 from the 2015 Saturday of 11,647. The show will release official final figures shortly, but the point is that the 58th Toronto International Boat Show seems to be holding it's own on attendance. On the other hand, we don't seem to be attracting many new boaters. According to Canadian Business magazine, Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) the population is growing. If we extend the "catchment area" for the show to a twohour drive radius, the show should encompass the larger subregion known as the Golden Horseshoe, which wraps around the western end of Lake Ontario-or even more, the Greater Golden Horseshoe region (GGH). The GGH includes the GTA, Hamilton, St. CatharinesNiagara, Oshawa, Kitchener-Waterloo, Barrie, Guelph, Brantford, Peterborough and everything in between. According to StatsCan, the GGH had about 8.1 million people in 2006. But in the 5 years following, Ontario grew by 5.7%, while the GTA grew an impressive 9.2%. The percentage increase for the GGH is probably somewhere in between. That area population growth would suggest to me that the Toronto International Boat Show should be growing noticeably, not staying flat. Let's just guess that the show previously attracted 70,000 in 2006. By now it should be closer to 80,000 or more, and that's just staying up with population growth. OK - I would say this has been a good show. The Discover Boating program continues and there are real efforts being made to introduce boating to new groups like the Asian community. I saw many more Asian people at the 2016 show than I had noticed in previous years. Is it the boats themselves? Is it the way the industry markets boats? We need to get some serious, authoritative market research done to help us understand what is going on. We need insight and understanding. Clearly, boating is not getting our fair share of the many new GTA and GGH residents. Andy Adams - Editor To read the digital version of Boating Industry Canada anytime visit www.BoatingIndustry.ca and click on Digital Magazine in the menu bar. 4 Boating Industry Canada FEBRUARY 2016 http://www.BoatingIndustry.ca

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Boating Industry Canada February 2016

INSIGHT
INDUSTRY NEWS
IMPACT - AL DONALDSON: After 16 years heading up the largest boating association in Canada, Al Donaldson reflects on Boating Ontario’s accomplishments and challenges as he passes on the torch. – by Andy Adams
FEATURE – JANET BAUER: Boating Ontario’s New CEO
AD NAUSEAM
FEATURE – VOLVO RE-POWER: Step through the advantages your customers may not be aware of to re-powering their vessel, with Jon Moles of Toronto Yacht Services. – by Andy Adams
ABYC – NEW H-31-TESTING SEAT STRUCTURES: Making boating safe through scientific testing. - By Brian Goodwin
NMEA – 2015 NMEA ANNUAL CONFERENCE: CEO Panel shares ideas and insights for the future of marine electronics sales. Supplied by the NMEA.

Boating Industry Canada February 2016

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