Boating Industry Canada

MAATS 2009
A Familiar Show During Strange Times

This year’s Innovation Awards were presented by Judging Panel Chairwoman Zuzana Prochazka, technical editor for Latitudes & Attitudes magazine. Thomas Dammrich of the NMMA joins her on stage.

The Boating Industry Canada team was not sure what we would find when we arrived at the Orlando Conference Centre on July 15, 2009. Would this be like previous years? Would the exhibit floor be way down? Would attendance be off dramatically?

Or, will people continue boating and buying both repairs and accessory upgrades to their current boats? Of course, that is what we hoped for. However, with the new boat market in the US down perhaps 50% from recent levels, these are strange times. The industry has seen downturns before but no one remembers anything like this.

“This is not a recession for boating, it is a depression,” commented Thom Dammrich of the NMMA when we interviewed him at the show. “Things are really bad for new boat manufacturers and their suppliers, but businesses that serve existing boaters are in a better position. Aftermarket sales are up. Marina storage is OK or even up. The activity of boating is healthy,” Thom stated.

This year, the MAATS show manager was Stephen Evans who celebrates his 10th anniversary with the NMMA next February. Stephen has attended every one of the nine MAATS shows. This year was the second time MAATS had been held in Orlando.

“Orlando serves us well. This is our second year to market to dealers to attend the show,” Stephen Evans said. “Dealers joined the show for the first time last year. We had 70 dealers register last year compared to 255 dealers now. Orlando is a great market for the dealers

and we’ve heard a lot from them at the show.”

“Also, when you’re in the same place for eight years, you need a change,” he continued. “Coming to Orlando satisfies that and attracts new attendees. The dealer participation is greatly improved this year. They get a chance to comment personally and meet the manufacturers. The manufacturers want dealers to pull the product through the system chain, so this gives them an important and convenient opportunity to talk.”

We asked Stephen Evans how aftermarket and accessory sales were this year. “Anecdotally, we’re hearing numbers like a 15% increase in accessories sales this year,” Stephen said. “In today’s tough economic climate, the dealer who promotes accessories now and their service later when things get better, who

will sell the new boat? The dealer who has been delivering great service.”

He went on to report that the size of the show compared to 2008 is down by 20% to 25% but between the economy and the state of the industry, this comes as no surprise. Attendance is down a comparable amount but the dealers have helped to pick that up.

MAATS again was preceded by the National Marine Distributors Association’s Sales, Training, Education and Purchasing Conference, (STEP) held July 13 and 14. NMDA executive director Nancy Cueroni called her event a success, with about 18 distributors attending, the same number as last year. “The mood was positive,” she says. “We were thrilled.”