This year’s 27th annual Miami Yacht & Brokerage Show, the premier in-water luxury yacht show in the glamorous Florida yacht charter location – Miami, came to an end on President’s Day, following five days of beautiful South Florida weather. Thousands of people from all over the world enjoyed the amazing display of boats and marine products, comprising more than 500 new and brokerage yachts as well as a wide array of the latest marine technology and accessories, valued at more than $1 billion. In addition to breath-taking displays, the event also offered floating cocktail lounges, food and live musical entertainment.
Miami Yacht & Brokerage Show 2015
Overall, show attendance and the total number of boats on display were up two percent each over 2014. Attendance figures for the free, open-to-the-public event are based on concession sales. The largest increase over 2014 was the number of yachts on display in the 105-foot to 150-foot segment, which was up approximately 20 percent.
“We saw growth in several areas at this year’s show,” said Efrem “Skip” Zimbalist III, CEO of Show Management, the company that co-owns and manages the show. “Many exhibitors reported significant sales over the five days of the show and expect to close additional contracts in the following weeks. As an industry, we believe that we will continue to see a rise in attendance and new exhibitor displays as the economy continues to improve and luxury condominium projects with marinas are developed and pre-sold in South Florida.”
Azimut Yachts at the 2015 Miami Yacht & Brokerage Show
Due to growing demand to display boats larger than 150 feet, Show Management will open an additional location for the 2016 Yacht & Brokerage Show at the new marina project on Watson Island, called Island Gardens Deep Harbour, across from the Perez Art Museum with views of the downtown Miami skyline. When completed, the new superyacht marina will be able to accommodate an average of 50 yachts from 80 to 550 feet in length, the largest collection of slips for yachts of this size in North America.
Flagstone Island Gardens, LLC, developers of Island Gardens Deep Harbour, had a booth at this year’s Yacht & Brokerage Show that drew a large amount of interest from show-goers.
Hargrave Custom Yachts at the 2015 Miami Yacht & Brokerage Show
“This year’s show seemed to draw more qualified attendees than in past years, many who were eager to learn more about our project and our plans for participation in next year’s Yacht & Brokerage Show,” said Flagstone Property Group President of Communications and Branding Bahar Bayraktar. “The show was a good experience as always, with plenty of foot traffic.”
The Yacht & Brokerage Show’s original location on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach will remain as a show site for 2016 and beyond, and will not be affected by the Miami International Boat Show’s move to Virginia Key on Key Biscayne. The Miami International Boat Show, produced by the National Marine Manufacturers Association, and the Yacht & Brokerage Show, produced by Show Management in cooperation with the Florida Yacht Brokers Association, are completely independent boat shows that annually occur on the same weekend.
Hatteras Yachts at the 2015 Miami Yacht & Brokerage Show
The executive director of the Florida Yacht Brokers Association, Ann Vernon, noted positive feedback about this year’s Yacht & Brokerage Show from the organization’s members. “There were definitely sales happening during the show. We noticed one brokerage boat near our display that had six offers on it,” she said. “The quality of visitors was also noteworthy. Brokers felt that there were serious buyers at this year’s show.”
Another strong indicator of a successful show was notable gains in related hotel room nights. According to the show’s official travel partner, BoatShowHotels.com, room nights saw an increase of more than 22 percent this year. Room night revenues saw an increase of more than 27 percent with revenues totaling more than $2 million at this year’s Yacht & Brokerage Show, up from $1.6 million in 2014. The average length of stay per guest room was four nights.
Viking Yachts at the 2015 Miami Yacht & Brokerage Show
“We were very pleased with results this year, as we expanded the number of hotels and hotel rooms available to exhibitors and attendees of the Yacht & Brokerage Show,” said Todd Delmay, president and CEO of BoatShowHotels.com. “Miami has enjoyed steady growth of hotel offerings and an improving economy has increased hotel rates and occupancy.”
Covering more than 1.2 million square feet of space, The Yacht & Brokerage Show in Miami Beach spanned more than a mile-long strip of the Indian Creek Waterway from 41st Street to 52nd Street, across from landmark hotels such as the Fountainebleau and Eden Roc.
