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Like a magnet, 65th Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show is poised to jolt local economy, lift seller spirits

Crew members of the Raw Bar yacht out of Sag Harbor. N.Y.,, secure the vessel in Fort Lauderdale on Friday. The docks are being prepared for the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show that runs Oct. 30 through Nov. 3. (Mike Stocker/South Florida ֱ)
Crew members of the Raw Bar yacht out of Sag Harbor. N.Y.,, secure the vessel in Fort Lauderdale on Friday. The docks are being prepared for the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show that runs Oct. 30 through Nov. 3. (Mike Stocker/South Florida ֱ)
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Amid wars overseas, inflation and lofty energy prices, the land of bountiful marine industry opportunity is in America, and at this moment in late October, the focal point is the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.

For the 65th year, the world’s largest annual in-water boat show kicks off at noon Wednesday with another strong roster of vessels of all sizes for the rich and not-so rich: An estimated 100,000-plus visitors are expected to traverse seven venues at the show to view more than 1,300 vessels and maybe talk some business with more than 1,000 exhibitors.

One top international yachting executive said he has moved his family from Europe to Key Biscayne off Miami so he and his firm can gain better access to the U.S. market, and the boat show is a major starting point.

Jonathan Beckett, CEO of Monaco-based Burgess Yachts, says he is here “to really come and try to shake up the American market.”

“It’s always been a really, really important market for us,” he said. “Russia was 25% of our business and America was 30%.”

Then Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

“Now Russia is 0% and America is about 45% of our global business,” he said. “This is the biggest pool of potential yacht charterers, yacht owners and yacht sellers. Our intention is to grow our offices and footprint and increase our market share.”

Crew members prepare for the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. The show runs Oct. 30th through November 3rd. (Mike Stocker/South Florida ֱ)
Crew members prepare for the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show near the Hall of Fame Marina on Friday. (Mike Stocker/South Florida ֱ)

All words that are music to the ears of Phil Purcell, CEO and president of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, which owns the boat show.

The show is the fuel that drives a billion dollar-plus marine industry in Fort Lauderdale, from the yacht basin of Bahia Mar to the major manufacturing, repair, and overhaul centers along the New River toward Interstate 95.

“What we have up that river is so precious,” he said. “That’s because of the show and the correlation between the industry and the shows and how it’s grown up together here.”

An economic lift

The area’s lodging industry, which has slowed a bit from inflation and the easing of high levels of travel driven by the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to benefit from some welcomed gains.

“The hotels love it, the restaurants love it,” Purcell said. “I think it’s been a little bit of a slow tourist season. This will be a good shot in the arm for hotels and restaurants.”

The show is estimated to deliver $25.8 million tax revenue in Broward County alone.

It also creates a workforce of its own.

“Once the show is up and running there will probably be around 30,000 workers working the show between the visitors and staff,” said Andrew Doole, president of U.S. Boat Shows for Informa Markets, producer of the show each year.. “So it’s a small city.”

The Pier Sixty-Six Effect

Megan Lagasse, marine director at the Pier Sixty-Six resort, which is close to reopening after a multi-year redevelopment project, said she expects boat owners to sail into her marina, park and use their vessels as a base while attending the show.

On the east bank of the Intracoastal Waterway along the 17th Street Causeway, visitors can view some of the show’s largest yachts at Pier Sixty-Six North and the Superyacht Village on the causeway’s south side.

“It’s all the builders,” Lagasse said. “There are no brokers on the south side. It’s directly purchasing from the builders themselves.”

Some 200 boats will reside at Pier Sixty-Six North in the 100 feet and above range.

“We have a portion of the marina open to the public,” she said. “Those slips have been sold for a year since last year’s boat show. We also have a lot of our customers who come every other year. We’re seeing a lot of boat owners and boat enthusiasts parking their boats with us and going to the boat show. These are real boat lovers.”

A number of them are looking to buy bigger vessels.

Sailing in from overseas

Buyer choices at the show are of worldwide origins.

From Australia, a container ship filled with expensive vessels traversed the Pacific Ocean, the Panama Canal and the Caribbean last week from the Port of Brisbane on a 34-day, 7,980-nautical-mile voyage to Fort Lauderdale.

Workers prepare slips at the Bahia Mar Marina in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in preparation for the upcoming Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. The show, which is one of the largest in the world, runs from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida ֱ)
Workers prepare slips at the Bahia Mar Marina in Fort Lauderdale, which will serve as the main entry point to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida ֱ)

The builder Riviera, a spokesman said,  plans to show off an 11-motor yacht fleet valued at $20 million (Australian). The vessels, in the 39- to 78-foot range, includes the company’s 6800 Sport Yacht Platinum Edition.

From the other side of the world, X Shore,  the Swedish technology company developing a new generation of fully electric, silent boats, will be exhibiting the latest editions. On display: the X Shore 1, dubbed by the company as the “Tesla of the Sea.”

Wheeling, dealing and promoting

The show is a magnet for businesses and professionals not directly involved in the marine industry. Real estate brokerages and consulting firms like it for the gravitas it brings to the deal-making moment.

“We have a number of client meetings arranged months ago because of the boat show,” said John Boyd, principal of The Boyd Company, a business site selection consultancy based in Boca Raton. “It’s a great example of the economic impact that doesn’t show up in the statistics.”

“The Fort Lauderdale Boat Show is a one-of-a-kind economic development opportunity,” he added. “It’s about who attends: some of the most influential, successful  business leader, sports figures,  billionaire oil sheiks from the Middle East that are in town spending money.”

The people who run the city-owned Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport ought to know. The business magazine Forbes, citing airport manager Rufus James, reported show-related flights will boost traffic there by 20-25%. The result, the publication said, will be 500 to 700 flights a day from around the world.

The head of Costa Rica’s’ Commission of Marinas is scheduled to visit to highlight the Central American nation’s “growing yachting and marina offerings, as well as the destination’s leadership in sustainable marine tourism,” according to a spokesperson for the country’s tourism board.

Well in advance of the show’s opening, developers with projects to push and brokers with mansions to sell (especially with dockage in the back and waterfront views) talked up cocktail parties this month at high-end restaurants, as well as gatherings aboard yachts.

As far back as January, Bahia Mar developer Jimmy Tate of Miami was looking to  have a sales center in place by this month so his firm could reach out to would-be buyers of the luxury condos he plans to build at the taxpayer-owned property that serves as the show’s central venue.

“We plan to start sales in October, right around the time of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show,” he told the South Florida ֱ in January.

Stay tuned.

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