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Drawing to a close yesterday, the 2011 Tullett Prebon London
International Boat Show has proven to be popular with visitors
and exhibitors alike. The new-look Show attracted 109,778 visitors
from all over the country and abroad, 7% up on the final attendance
figure for the 2010 Show and 2% behind 2009. Together with
the Outdoors Show & The London Bike Show, the total combined
attendance number of visitors to ExCeL and all three shows is
140,164.
National Boat Shows (NBS) is confident that the rejuvenation of
the Show with brand new features and attractions including the
Watersports Action Pool and
Used Boats Marina in association with yachtworld.com has helped
to broaden the Show’s appeal and attract a more diverse range of
visitors.
Andrew Williams, Managing Director of NBS is
delighted with the success of the Show: “We have worked
extremely hard to create a 10 day event that our exhibitors would
be proud of and the response we have had from exhibitors and
visitors is that the ‘wow’ factor is certainly back. The
stunning new east entrance giving a glimpse of the pool and some of
the exciting action has given visitors a hint of what is to come
before they have even walked through the ticket
barriers.
“There has been a real buzz around the
Show, the bleachers at the Watersports Action Pool have been packed
throughout the week and it’s great to see the crowd getting
involved with all the attractions. The new layout has, in the main,
worked well and it has, without a doubt, helped visitors to
navigate the Show more easily whilst giving it a fresh and modern
new look.”
Paul Strzelecki, Chairman of National Boat
Shows added: “We are thrilled with the re-energised Show.
This has been a fabulous first year of a three year plan to develop
the Show for the visitors and trade, and we look forward to
building on the successful performance of this Show.
“Although we have attracted a good number
of visitors, sales at the Show have proven to still be challenging
with exhibitors finding that final commitment sometimes difficult
to secure. Reports have been that the visitors to the Show
are keen boaters and are asking the right questions, but sales are
slower in the current climate. The important thing is that
this new-look Show is, once again, a world-class showcase and vital
sales platform for the marine industry.”
The Used Boats
Marina has proved to be a great success with the sale
of more than 50% of the used boats on display and many sea trials
booked for the remaining craft; the inclusion of used boats at the
Show has encouraged a new type of buyer at the Show and also
provided the opportunity for owners to upgrade their boat, once
their previous craft had been sold. The sale of a Beneteau
Flyer 12 to a Jersey buyer allowed the previous owner to head into
the Show’s South Hall (Boat Hall) to purchase a brand new Jeanneau
42 DS.
One of the stars of the Show has to,
undoubtedly, be the Watersports
Action Pool. Following the impressive Show
opening by Jodie Kidd and the watersports experts, the pool has
seen wall to wall action with champions of all disciplines showing
off their skills. Importantly 1400 visitors have had the
chance to get on the water and give it a try themselves, choosing
from kayaking, wakeboarding, dinghy sailing, windsurfing and stand
up paddle boarding, and the miniport boats for the much younger
visitors.
“I genuinely feel that NBS has
listened. The fact that we are back exhibiting canoes, after
two years away, is testament to the changes that have been
made. As a result of our activity, our dealers at the Show
have made sales and we expect sales in the future as a direct
result of this Show.” Andrew Dron, MD of Johnson
Outdoors
“As a first time exhibitor, we have seen
the benefits from the Watersports Action Pool and the SUP racing as
Tushingham has had good sales and very good leads. We are
already looking to 2012.” John Hibbard, SUP
Brand Manager, Tushingham.
The Boardwalk has been a
fabulous addition; enabling new exhibitors to take space, ensuring
a great variety of boats are on offer for visitors to see.
This, together with all of the boats across the Show has
successfully showcased around 1,000 boats for visitors to climb on
board, view and compare. Thirteen boats made their world
debut here, including the Princess 32M – the biggest boat ever to
be displayed inside the halls of ExCeL - and a further 23 were
shown in the UK for the first time.
“The Tullett Prebon London International
Boat Show has been productive, successful and worthwhile. It’s
encouraging to see an increase in visitor numbers attracted by the
new features and attractions. We look forward to seeing what else
NBS will be planning to build on this success.” Paul
Heys, Director of Key Yachting Ltd
“We have been pleased with the level of
visitors to the show. Sales and enquiry levels have been good given
the financial climate and we feel sure the industry has turned the
corner and sales will increase.” Richard
Trafford, Wessex Yacht Sales and Dufour Yacht Dealer
The interactive activity provided by
exhibitors on various stands around the Show has really
added to the overall visitor experience and has also been a success
for those exhibitors involved.
“We’ve been demonstrating how an
inflatable lifejacket works, allowing people to try one on, inflate
the lifejacket and learn how to repack this important item of
personal safety. Having this interactivity on the stand is a
huge success and is the way we should sell lifejackets in the
future. Sales are well above expectations and we will be back
at the London show next year.” David Lewin,
Secumar
FURTHER EXHIBITOR FEEDBACK
“The Show has been fantastic for the
RYA. The Expert Sessions stage on the RYA stand has been
extremely popular, with talks and practical demonstrations to suit
all tastes and abilities, and the stand has been buzzing all week
recruiting members and selling our range of publications.
We’re set to beat all our targets not just in terms of matching the
performance of the 2010 Show but for the last five years. The
whole atmosphere in the show has been very optimistic and visitors
seemed to have really appreciated all the new features around the
Show.” Paul Bayliss, RYA
“It’s been our first time exhibiting in the UK
and the Show is been a great success. We have sold all four
boats on our stand and have two further confirmed orders. We
are looking forward to next year’s Show.” Bill
Manley, Teja Wooden Boats
“As a new exhibitor we have been very excited
with the interest shown with the Volvo products. Quality of
visitors has been good and we are looking forward to the 2012 Show.
The layout and colour coding has made it easier for visitors and
exhibitors to navigate around the Show and the feedback from
visitors about the features has also been positively
received. Well done NBS!” Dave Hill, Engineering
Manager, Darthaven Marina Ltd
“It’s been a fantastic Show and a perfect
platform for us to launch the Range Rover Evoque in the UK.
We have had massive interest in the Evoque and our full range of
vehicles and we look forward to returning next year.”
Sam Adams, Events Manager, Land Rover UK
“We are very happy with the new layout and
feel it has been a great idea to have all of the boats in one
hall. There has also been much more animation that we have
seen before. Our only complaint has been the difficulty of
controlling the number of people to our stand!”
Francois Renault, Beneteau
“This has been a very positive Show for
Archambault with the launch of the M34 and continued interest in
our complete range throughout the whole show. Interest in the
M34 one design fleet has exceeded our expectations and we are
confident about the future of this class.” Craig
Smallwood, Archambault UK
“Sealine has made a very positive return to
the Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show. The new
format has created renewed interest from our customers and we have
been very happy with the improvements made to the show by the
organisers, National Boat Shows. It’s been a good Show for us
as we have met our sales targets and so we go away very pleased
with our decision to return to London and very positive about our
plans for 2011.” Nick Powell, Marketing Director,
Sealine
“This has been a great Show, with a vast
improvement on previous years including the quality of visitors to
our stand. We are pleased with the level of business achieved
which is up on last year and feel there is a good feel and buzz
about the show.” Rob Clay, Managing Director, TCS
Chandlery
“It’s well reported that the industry is
experiencing challenging times, but this Show has certainly given
us a great sales and promotional platform. We have sold several
boats to new, walk up, never seen before visitors and having the
impressively positioned new 32m yacht inside the hall has added and
extra dimension to our presence here.” Chris
Cleverly, Managing Director, Princess Motor Yacht
Sales
“This is the first time we have exhibited at
the London Show and we are really pleased. We have seen a lot of
potential customers who are very excited about our new project.
The new layout has worked as has the features, in particular
the Knowledge Box and Cruising Chute.” Ben Vaes, Marketing
Director, Gunfleet Marine Ltd
The Cruising Chute has educated over 16,000
people, around 19,000 people flocked to the
Knowledge Box to listen to and participate in discussions with
37 various speakers including Mark Covell, Mike Golding OBE, Tom
Cunliffe, Tony Brooks, and Nigel Calder, 3,000 have enjoyed
themselves at the Model Boat Pool and the Classic Boat attraction
has, once again, been one of the most popular destinations for
visitors.
The 2011 PSP Southampton Boat Show will take
place at Mayflower Park from 16-25 September. http://www.southamptonboatshow.com/
-Ends-
For more information, please contact
the NBS Press Office team at Publicasity on 020 7632 2432
or boatshow@publicasity.co.ukand
find Show updates on the Love Boat
Shows Facebook and
Twitter pages.
Notes to editors
- The Tullett Prebon London International Boat
Show at ExCeL London and the PSP Southampton Boat Show in Mayflower
Park are organised by National Boat Shows Ltd (NBS). NBS is a
subsidiary of the British Marine Federation (BMF), trade
association for the UK boating industry
- The next PSP Southampton Boat Show takes
place from 16 – 25 September 2011
- High-res images, video and audio can be found
at www.londonboatshow.com/gallery
Title sponsor: Tullett Prebon
About Tullett Prebon
plc: Tullett Prebon (http://www.tullettprebon.com/)
is one of the world’s largest inter-dealer brokers (IDBs) and
operates as an intermediary in wholesale financial markets
facilitating the trading activities of it clients, in particular
commercial and investment banks. The business now covers the
following major product groups: Volatility, Rates, Non Banking
& Sterling Cash, Treasury, Energy, Credit Environmental and
Equities. Tullett Prebon’s electronic broking division offers
electronic solutions to these products. In addition to its
brokerage services, Tullett Prebon offers a variety of market
information services through its IDB Marker Data division, Tullett
Prebon Information. Tullett Prebon has its principal offices in
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