It’s all aboard for boaters in Chicago and Boston tomorrow; in Atlanta and Port Charlotte, Fla., Thursday; and all weekend beginning Friday in Tulsa, Okla., and Daytona, Fla.
These six shows will kick off the 2025 winter show season with a lot at stake for dealers coming off a less-than-stellar sales year. In each case, the producing associations are going all out to make sure their shows are packed with drawing cards, including the latest in boats supported by a host of special events and activities designed to attract big crowds.
At the Daytona Boat Show, staged at the Turn One Plaza of the Daytona International Speedway, central Florida dealers will be showing 300 boats from more than 70 builders. To attract families, the show also boasts a lineup of fishing and boating seminars, a trout-fishing area, a Kids Zone and live entertainment.
“We’re really looking for a marked sales improvement this year, beginning with our winter shows,” says Joe Lewis, of Mount Dora Boating Center & Marina. “We’re already getting some positive inquiries from customers and prospects who are mentioning things like the recent election results, a good economic outlook ahead, and particularly making note of the sales incentives we’re offering right now.”
The show schedule continues to build for the rest of the month, with major shows in Cleveland; St. Petersburg, Fla.; Louisville, Ky.; Huntsville, Ala.; Minneapolis; New York City; Houston; and Seattle.
These shows will be a reliable gauge for the industry in the new year.
Meanwhile, retailers who were not among the more than 1,400 industry members attending last month’s Dealer Week Conference & Expo, presented by the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, still have a chance to learn from the 20 educational sessions held during the event.
Dealer Week featured its largest Expo Hall ever, with four education classrooms and 170 booths, including 55 first-time exhibitors and 34 boatbuilders. For those who couldn’t attend, MRAA is holding Dealer Week Online registration open until March 1, providing virtual access to the education sessions to help dealership teams outperform in 2025.
There are five sessions to equip a team from four key business pathways: Leadership, Marketing, Sales and Service & Parts.
MRAA members pay $499 for Dealer Week Online, and non-members pay $799. Access is on-demand until March 1.
Dealer Week this year is scheduled for Dec. 7-10 in Tampa, Fla.
