Organisers have hailed this year’s Southampton Boat Show as “incredibly successful” despite a small drop in visitor numbers
Midweek wet weather dragged down attendance numbers but failed to dampen the mood at this year’s Southampton Boat Show.
Britain’s biggest boating festival attracted roughly 110,000 visitors this year, which made for a decrease of around 2% on last year’s total of 112,000.
Despite a strong opening weekend, which saw a 3% year-on-year attendance boost, poor weather from Monday to Wednesday had an impact on footfall, with the total by Thursday 7% lower than in 2014.
However, fine weather over the final weekend boosted attendance and made for a fairly healthy overall total.
Murray Ellis, managing director at British Marine Boat Shows said: “We have had yet another incredibly successful Southampton Boat Show with more than 10,000 visitors getting out on the water for free.
“Our attractions have been very popular this year with over 18,000 visits to our tall ship, the Earl of Pembroke, 5,300 rides on the Honda Boat Show Eye and over 27,000 visitors to the Aquarium.”
Business boom
Regardless of visitors figures, the industry remained upbeat with organisers British Marine Boat Shows reporting than millions of pounds worth of business was done during the ten-day event.
Chief amongst these was a new supplier deal announced between Sunseeker International and Rolls-Royce, who will continue to supply the Poole yard with MTU engines.
Sean Robertson, sales director at Sunseeker, said: “We’ve enjoyed an excellent Southampton Boat Show this year with over £35m of confirmed orders and several more in the pipeline, as usual it’s also been a real pleasure to welcome so many visitors and special guests to the stand.”
To watch our round-up of all the new boats that made their public debut at the 2015 Southampton Boat Show, click on the video below:
