2004 Sydney International Boat Show
press release...
Sydney 2004, One for the Record Books
13th August 2004
The 2004 Sydney International Boat Show has cemented itself into boating industry history when it attracted the largest crowd ever to attend a boat show in the Southern Hemisphere.
An astonishing 93, 501 visitors flocked to Darling Harbour over the six days (July 29 - August 3) with five of the six days showing substantial increases in attendance over the 2003 show.
The figure smashed previous gate records and has presented show organisers, the Boating Industry Association of NSW, with the industry's first-ever "million dollar gate."
According to the association's marketing and event manager, Domenic Genua, early indications are that sales generated from the show could also establish a dramatic first with a half-billion dollar target within reach.
Visitor turnout for each of the six days was;
Thursday, 8544, an increase of 9.4 percent above the 2003 figure, Friday, 13,678 (up 10.6 percent), Saturday, 25,453 (up 10.6 percent), Sunday, 29,064, the largest single day attendance in boat show history and a massive 17.6 percent up on 2003, Monday, 10, 420, a slight drop of 1.4 percent on 2003 figures and the final day, Tuesday, 6342, up 1.8 percent on 2003.
The show offered numerous highlights, including the largest marina ever assembled specifically for an Australian boat show with 235 vessels berthed in Cockle Bay.
Other attractions proved popular with the daily fashion parades attracting strong interest and the Yamaha Fishing Clinic drawing standing room only attendances at almost every session.
Recent winners in the annual Boats of the Year awards attracted plenty of attention, as did the world release of the Maritimo luxury motor yacht range from the drawing board of industry legend Bill Barry-Cotter.
Seawind Catamarans also staged a world release unveiling its 1160 Catamaran to an admiring audience.
Despite the crowd, the floor plan within the six halls of the Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre proved effective with minimum fuss and easy access to the many spectacular displays.
The Boating Industry Association of NSW of course, was delighted with the show's result.
"Without doubt it shows our industry to be in very good shape indeed," general manager Roy Privett declared.
"Our members, together with all who exhibited, deserve compliments for the professional manner in which they presented their displays.
"And I cannot let this opportunity pass without paying tribute to the BIA staff.
"Bringing a show of this magnitude to fruition is no easy task and I cannot speak too highly of the effort put in by the entire team."
Footnote: The association received a pleasant surprise when undertaking final counting. Advertised attendance for the 2003 show, 81,838, proved to be incorrect, with 84,766 actually attending. Adoption in 2003 for the first time of credit card facilities caused the error.