The PSP Southampton Boat Show, the UK’s leading outdoor social event showcasing boating, watersports and lifestyle, draws to a close today (Sunday 20 September) reporting strong attendance and increased confidence. Since opening on 11 September, the PSP Southampton Boat Show has attracted 121,671 visitors, which is 282 more than last year.
Organiser National Boat Shows (NBS) is delighted with the success of the Show, which has hosted more than 500 exhibitors and showcased almost 1,000 boats, from 1.6 metre inflatables at £389 to 130ft motor yachts costing £10.6m. The Show has offered an important platform for the marine industry to display its quality and diversity, from power and sail boats to dinghies, deck equipment, charter holidays, sailing courses, chandlery and more.
Across the board, Show exhibitors have experienced good sales throughout the 10 days. While visitors have been willing to spend, the sales process has perhaps taken slightly longer than usual, moving exhibitors to report a feeling of ‘cautious optimism’ within the marine industry.
Paul Strzelecki, NBS Chairman, said: “I believe this Show proves the resilience and innovative nature of the British marine industry. To have such a positive Show in the current economic climate is remarkable and we are delighted with the number of visitors who have come to enjoy it and, importantly, make purchases.
“We look forward to delivering a similar experience for both exhibitors and visitors at the Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show in January 2010.”
The Show’s success has been attributed to the excellent features and enormous range of exhibitors who have helped create a rich industry showcase.
Some exhibitors have experienced an excellent Show; marine upholstery and equipment supplier Toomer and Hayter, for example, reported a 50% uplift in year-on-year sales and yacht brokers Boatshed.com have secured sales or offers on more than 60 boats throughout the course of the Show, which is its best ever result at a Southampton show.
Many exhibitors chose the PSP Southampton Boat Show to launch innovative and exciting new products. Almost 100 new products were unveiled, from new sailing boats such as the Southerly 49 from Northshore Yachts and Beneteau’s First 35 and Oceanis 50 to sailing equipment.
The Show also saw a bumper selection of new powerboats debuted. Sunseeker International made four global debuts: the Predator 130 which was the biggest and most expensive boat at the Show, the 80 Yacht, the Predator 60 and the Predator 54. Princess Yachts unveiled two new models: the V78 and the 78 Motor Yacht, Sealine revealed the new F-series flagship, the F46 and Show visitors caught the first glimpse of the all-new Fairline Squadron 65.
Anecdotal feedback from exhibitors confirms the Show concluded on a high note.
Frank Stevens, Crownline: “We were very apprehensive going into the Show, but we have come out of it delighted! We’re pleased with the numbers and also the quality of visitor. We’ve achieved twice as many sales as we did at the 2008 PSP Southampton Boat Show.”
Matthew Hornsby, Williams Performance Tenders: “Absolutely fantastic! We’ve had a number of orders on our new offering. It was certainly a great move to hold a world wide launch at the Show and we’ve had a lot of interest in this. People are impressed with the quality from a British manufacturer and the hard work we have put in is being recognised. We are now looking forward to the Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show.”
Robert Braithwaite, Sunseeker International: “We came to the PSP Southampton Boat Show with cautious confidence and leave with that confidence on a high. We’ve had a very successful Show and look forward to taking that high to the Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show which looks set to be perfectly positioned to benefit from the recovering market.”
Ian Braham, Head of Marine Finance at Lombard said, "We are very pleased with the results achieved at the Show. There has clearly been an improvement in customer confidence which has resulted in us exceeding last year's value of finance applications by 32%. This is a positive sign for the industry and we look forward to equally impressive results at the Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show in January 2010."
Alan Morgan, Avon/ Zodiac: “We’ve been delighted with the Show and have seen a very encouraging mood of improved optimism supported by strong year on year sales growth in all our brands.”
Will Green, Princess Yachts International: “We have been delighted with the level of positivity at the Show and are extremely pleased at the number of genuine boat buyers looking at a new Princess for next season.”
Frank Dixie, managing director of Show sponsor PSP said: “We at PSP have found this year’s Show unbelievably positive, with the marine fraternity embracing us with open arms. The sponsorship has proved a great success and committing to next year’s sponsorship was the easiest decision I’ve ever made. We can only thank NBS for their fantastic support and now we need to recover from the great effort everyone has put into this Show and look forward to next year.”
PSP Southampton Boat Show highlights:
· Pop princess Sophie Ellis-Bextor made a glamorous entrance aboard the Princess V48 on Public Preview Day to officially open with the Show
• Gorgeous string quartet Escala entertained the crowds as Eddie Jordan launched Sunseeker’s new Predator 130, the largest – and most expensive – boat at the Show
• Dame Ellen MacArthur, Dee Caffari, Mike Golding and Geoff Holt all led attempts to set a new semaphore World Record on the Record Breaker Stage before 411 (to be verified) visitors joined Dee and Ben Ainslie to smash the target of 250 on Saturday 19 September
• Almost 10,000 visitors climbed aboard the Jubilee Sailing Trust’s tall ship Lord Nelson
• The Show achieved its aim of getting people afloat with 3,890 trying a RIB, powerboat or yacht with Try-A-Boat; 150 kids experiencing sailing with Rockley Watersports’ Get Afloat; 600 have sampled scuba diving with Andark and nearly 650 people enjoyed the Platinum boat experience with Princess Yachts
• HRH The Princess Royal visited the Show on Thursday 17 September and spent time with Geoff Holt aboard his catamaran Impossible Dream before launching the new RYA Sailability and The Green Blue’s mobile phone and ink cartridge recycling initiative to help raise funds
• Ladies Day on Thursday was a great success with ladies enjoying a special champagne ticket. The ‘Best Dressed Lady’ competition with the Southern Daily Echo and Ladies Day ambassador Powerboat P1 Champion Shelley Jory entertaining those guests who had purchased the Ladies Day Platinum Experience package in association with Princess
Andrew Williams, managing director, National Boat Shows concluded: “The positive comments received throughout the Show have been very pleasing and importantly the Tullet Prebon London International Boat Show has gathered even more momentum throughout the Show with the return of consumer confidence and increased sales.
“We’d like to thank all exhibitors for the support they have given in developing our features and their marketing efforts with ticket sales. We look forward to working closely to build on this success with even more impressive Shows in London in January and Southampton next year.
Image copyright: Gary Bray/UNiCOM/Blue Sheets