We see that the annual boat show season is coming to a public venue near you.
Here on the West Coast of Florida the next upcoming Boat Show is at the Tampa Convention Center.
Obviously a boat show is a the most innovative method that the marine manufacturers have developed to market the dream which is the boating lifestyle.
Somehow I find the method less than successful and have felt for years that boat shows could be carried out in a much better fashion. My experience has been tainted from a boat show attendance history of over 35 years. But in my view boat shows were more of an event back in my youth. Now they seem to be no more than a place to buy discount rods and reels, see home improvement displays, and or buy vacation interval ownership plans.
The main attraction (the boats) always seem to be shoved into a corner or over on the side of the main hall somewhere. Appointments must be made to see any boat worthy of interest, if one can get near the boat at all, and really who wants to pre-qualify themselves to a boat show salesman just to attain the right to see what he is trying to sell?
Boat shows can be fun and informative, please do not get me wrong, I just believe it should be more about the boats and the features of the boats than what boat shows have become. The people who promote boat shows developed a formula back in the 1970's and they have not changed the shtick one iota since.
I would like to see some innovation, some sort of way to make boat shows more friendly and less of a cattle call to cheap products. Sure, we all like discount fishing tackle and I have personally purchased rods and reels at boat shows, but to make people pay to gain entrance to what has become basically a travelling nautical flea market is a bit extreme. Show me the Boats Baby!
The following link is the boat show promoters idea of why you should go to the boat show. There are some valid points in the video. But when you decide to go to the boat show with your family remember that the prices you see at the show are not necessarily the best price available for a particular boat. In today's world of Internet pricing and world wide markets, it pays to know before you go. Create a list of boats you may be interested in and find your best prices before the boat show. Then keep that list close to your wallet. You may be surprised with a fantastic deal, but you also with have all of the information prior to entering real negotiations.
So go ahead and attend your local boat show, pick up a rod & reel or a timeshare brochure and maybe, just maybe, you could find a great deal on your boat dream. But please go prepared if that is your mission (buying a boat). If your mission is simply to mess about with boats then by all means.. party on and look at all of the pretty vessels. They were assembled just for you!
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