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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