Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show – November 2011

The Fort Lauderdale Boat Show is the “granddaddy” of all boat shows.  The venue is so large that it is held in five separate locations with so many boats and accessory vendors that most of the attendees will never get around to seeing the majority of the boats or accessory booths. Booth prices are the highest I have ever seen, and I’ve done a lot of shows over the past ten years.  First time vendors to the show are usually required to exhibit at the convention center, which is the cheapest booth space available, for a reason.  Some vendors I talked to indicated that they didn’t even cover there expenses and certainly wouldn’t be back next year.  The show has gotten smaller and the costs keep going up, but the people keep coming.  It seems that a lot of vendors feel that they just have to maintain a presence at the show no matter what the financial outcome.  I personally don’t get it.  I am not a “non-profit organization”, at least not intentionally. 

The weather is another factor.  The majority of the booth spaces are in large tents, which become rather crowed when it rains out on the docks.  It can become so crowded at the Bahia Mar venue that it is difficult to conduct business and close sales, unlike the convention center where the foot traffic is less than desirable.

http://www.showmanagement.com/fort_lauderdale/event/