Gold Coast boating industry gets ‘sparked up’ as show changes dates
BOATING manufacturers say the local industry will receive a boost now the Gold Coast’s clashing boat shows will be run on different weekends.
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MANUFACTURERS expect a major boost to the Gold Coast boatbuilding industry after a truce was called on the shows war.
Organisers of the Gold Coast International Boat Show and Marine Expo yesterday decided to move away from the congested May date it shared for two years with the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show.
The double up split exhibitors and the public, with Expo this year having 230 exhibitors and the SCIBS 300.
The Marine Expo, which started in 2011, was originally in October but organisers changed the date to stage it at the same time as the Sanctuary Cove event. Plans to work in together fell on deaf ears.
Next year’s three-day Expo at Coomera will be held March 17-19.
Expo’s spokesman and Riviera communications director Stephen Milne said the move did not mean they were retreating from the battle against SCIB.
“We wanted to create a super show over a few years but they didn’t want that,” Mr Milne said.
“The changes to the dates is a business imperative benefiting the manufacturing side of the business — this is not a retreat,” Mr Milne said.
SCIBS general manager Johan Hasser did not answer calls yesterday.
Simon Dyer, owner of Aqua Pontoons, said having the two shows on separate dates would be a boost to the Gold Coast boating industry.
“They needed to be separated,” the Currumbin manufacturer said.
“It’s better when they run the boat show separately. It sparks the whole industry.”
Mr Dyer said the move would allow smaller exhibitors to show their wares at both shows.
Staff at leading jet ski retailer JSW Power Sports said they had suffered with smaller exhibits due to the clashing dates.
“We did both, but Sanctuary Cove seemed to be a more successful show for us,” they said.
“The exhibits would be smaller when they were both on during the weekend.”
Boating Industry Association Boss Howard Glenn said he was pleased about the changes.
“The Gold Coast region is the heartbeat of Australian boat and yacht manufacturing and an area we should showcase to the world,” Mr Glenn said.
“The timing of the two shows created concerns for both industry and show visitors.
“For complex reasons, the two shows were unable to unite as a single event,” he said.