The past couple of weeks have highlighted the value of public events promoting boating and the boating lifestyle with the BIA represented at boat shows in South Australia and Victoria.
I had the pleasure attending the Adelaide 4WD and Adventure Show which incorporated the Club Marine Boat Show, and it was great to see some 20,000 people in attendance and a good number of marine exhibitors on show.
The SA event was a good demonstration of effective collaboration in promotion of the outdoor lifestyle with exhibits spanning boats and marine, caravan and camping, vehicles and 4WD, and lots of accessories.
It was also good to be able to host a function for 65 industry members on the Club Marine stand to provide a platform for catching up with new friends and old, and networking across our valued marine sector in SA.
BIA also recently attended the Melbourne Boat Show where we were able to meet with industry colleagues and members for what was their 62nd show. BIAV put the total exhibitor numbers at more than 100 and attendance at almost 39,000. It was also good to catch up with BIAV President Scott O’Hare and CEO Steve Walker to discuss industry issues of mutual interest. Congratulations to both Scott and Steve on the event.
Such events are opportunities to address our key priorities which include growing participation in boating and help drive take up in marine careers. These are just some of the reasons why we are planning to attend a number of upcoming events.
BIA will be at the Timber Boat Festival at the Royal Motor Yacht Club over 2-3 November 2024 and at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart in February 2025, where we are currently negotiating an event partnership opportunity. We have a number of members in Tasmania and our plan is to hold marine industry events in and around the Festival, whilst also engaging with key stakeholders such as Marine and Safety Tasmania.
Perhaps the major opportunity to fly the flag for BIA is at the world’s largest trade exhibition of marine equipment, materials and systems that is METSTRADE in November where I will be attending a variety of meetings with ICOMIA, such as Sustainability and Grow Boating meetings, as well as meetings of the International Federation of Boat Show Organisers (IFBSO) in my capacity as Treasurer of that group. For more information on IFBSO members can check out https://www.ifbso.com
We are also well advanced in development of a series of events in 2025 across both Queensland and NSW to support and promote Marine Jobs. Much more on this program in upcoming issues of eNews.
And of course preparation for the Sydney International Boat Show is underway with both BIA and its event delivery partner Mulpha Events taking on board lessons learnt and developing event plans including expansion of the marine conference element. Meanwhile, BIA is actively engaged with NSW Government to ensure full appreciation of the social and economic benefits arising from the show in Sydney. The benefits included $353million in total economic output for the economy.
We are right now gearing up to launch the new CRM to provide a more effective and efficient service to our members across Australia. Look out for more details being released over the coming weeks.
See you on the water.
Andrew Scott
CEO Boating industry Association
