BOAT SHOW ROUND-UP

STRICTLY SAIL PACIFIC SURVEY RESULTS

Exhibitors were invited to participate in a 2011 Strictly Sail Pacific post-show survey to gauge their satisfaction with the show, get feedback about how to improve the show, and determine the long-term preferred location for the show. A solid 40% of those invited to participate responded. Of those, 80 percent reported they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the show, with a high approval rating given for the show management staff (average score 4.3 out of 5).

Other key findings included:

Exhibitors were very happy with the quality of attendees but several exhibitors reported that they would like to see more attendees at the show.
Compared with the 2010 show, 70% of respondents reported that the number and quality of attendees at the 2011 show was better than or the same as the 2010 show. Only 13% of respondents thought the number and quality of attendees was worse than the 2010 show.
80% of the exhibitors were happy with the layout of the show, although several commented that they felt the show was too spread out and that they would like the seminar rooms to be closer to the exhibits.
The marketing of the show got the thumbs up, with 90% of respondents rating the marketing as good or excellent.
Close to 90% of respondents were happy with the show hours. Of those who were unhappy with the show hours, the majority wanted the show to open later on Thursday and Friday and finish earlier on Saturday.
When questioned about a preferred location for Strictly Sail Pacific from 2014 onwards, the majority (72%) voted to hold the show at Jack London Square or other SF Bay Area location, 3% would prefer the show to move to Seattle, 4% to Los Angeles, 14% to Long Beach, and 8% San Diego. There is a clear preference among current exhibitors to keep Strictly Sail Pacific in the Bay Area.
The vast majority of exhibitors (87%) plan to exhibit at the 2012 show, 12% are undecided, and only one exhibitor will definitely not exhibit next year.
The vast majority of exhibitors (89%) plan to take the same amount of space in 2012 as they took in 2011, 5% plan to take more space, and 4% plan to take less space.

“As always, we appreciate the candid response and feedback from our show exhibitors,” said Strictly Sail Pacific Show Manager and Sail America Executive Director Jonathan Banks. “The commentary was positive overall and provided a few key areas we can work toward for continual improvement.”

BOAT SHOW BY THE NUMBERS

The latest edition of Boat Show Exhibitor shared results from an exclusive survey that provides insight into boat show buying habits.

1.8 is the average number of boat shows buyers attended before buying a boat
50% of boat show attendees boarded a boat while at a show
57% of boat buyers attended at least one boat show in the 12 months prior to purchasing their boat
61% of buyers made up their mind about which boat to buy at a boat show
3.4 is the average number of months between a buyer’s boat show visit and purchase

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