Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/807903
www.BoatingIndustry.com 36 | Boating Industry | April 2017 BY JONATHAN SWEET A ttendance has been up for most boat shows this year as the season has gotten off to a strong start, and Miami was no exception. In its second year at Miami Marine Stadium Park & Basin, attendance for the 2017 Progres- sive Insurance Miami International Boat Show increased 7 percent from 2016. Attendance for the show, held over the Presidents Day weekend, reached nearly 100,000 people, from an estimated 30 to 35 countries around the globe. "With learnings from our inaugural event at Miami Marine Stadium Park & Basin last year, the 2017 edition of the Miami International Boat Show was a resounding success for exhibitors, attendees, and the local tourism industry. For this year's show, we invested in new amenities, transportation options and exhibit space, and our ap- proximately 100,000 guests embraced those upgrades just as we'd hoped they would," said Thom Dammrich, president of the National Marine Manufactur- ers Association, the organizers of the show. "Our guests and our exhibitors continue to be thrilled with this waterfront venue, and we are, too – it's clearly a natural fit to host the Miami International Boat Show and we're already looking forward to welcoming guests back to the Marine Stadium site in 2018." With an estimated $3 billion in product on display this year, exhibitors experi- enced "brisk sales" in boats, accessories and more, NMMA said. Initial data indicate the 2017 Boat Show will meet or exceed its nearly $600 million economic impact and again directly support more than 6,500 full-time jobs. The show doubled its dock space to 3.5 miles of dock while rearranging other exhibit space. Another major change was moving the annual industry breakfast from the opening Thursday to Friday morning and rebranding it as the Innovation Breakfast. This was also the first year the Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index Awards were handed out at the breakfast. The move from IBEX to Miami was designed to give more consumer attention and exposure to those award winners. The Marine Industry CSI Awards honor boat and engine manufacturers who actively mea- AWARDS, NEW PRODUCTS HIGHLIGHT BUSY 2017 MIAMI SHOW sure customer satisfaction and pursue con- tinuous improvement to better serve their customers. Award recipients achieved an inde- pendently measured standard of excellence of 90 percent or higher in customer satisfaction from customers purchasing a new boat or en- gine from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2016. Participating manufacturers must survey all new boat buy- ers during this period. For this reporting period, the program surveyed more than 122,000 customers. There were a total of 52 recipients this year. "Fostering a culture of excellence in customer sat- isfaction not only builds ex- ceptional brand loyalty, but creates an outstanding boating experience, ensuring that today's boater remains the boater of tomor- row, and promotes industry growth by developing boaters into lifestyle advocates," said Robert Newsome, vice president of engineering standards and membership for NMMA, who presented the awards at the breakfast. NMMA and Boating Writers International recognized the annual Innovation Award winners at the breakfast as well. This year's program evaluated 63 products across 23 cat-