OCEAN CITY &euro“ Although the attendance at the 26th Annual Seaside Boat Show fell a bit from last year&euro&trades record numbers, the turnout exceeded
seemingly everyone&euro&trades cautious expectations. With nationwide attendance numbers at similar boat shows dwindling and the economy needing a huge shot in the proverbial arm, vendors and promoters for this year&euro&trades show were cautiously optimistic that the usual kick off to the boating season wouldn&euro&tradet be a dud. &euro&oeligIt was better than we expected,&euro said Scott McCurdy, president of North Bay Marina in Fenwick Island. &euro&oeligWe were pretty satisfied with the respectable turnout, and though we aren&euro&tradet overly excited about the state of the economy, no one is going to be jumping off any roofs in panic.&euro &euro&oeligWe were a down a bit in attendance from last year, but last year was the best ever,&euro said Smith. &euro&oeligThe dealers felt that price reductions helped show sales, and we feel that the dealers did well but not as well as they did in years past.&euro Dennis Shoemaker, President of the family operated Harbor Marine in West Ocean City, said that he remains optimistic for the outlook for the year based on the weekend&euro&trades turnout. &euro&oeligI think we should be able to hold our own this year,&euro said Shoemaker. &euro&oeligWe had several sales and lots of leads, and it&euro&trades always a fun weekend. We think people still want to get out and have a little pleasure now and again with their boats.&euro McCurdy said that though sales might have been down a bit, he was confident the show gave a pretty reasonable picture for where the local industry was headed for this upcoming season.
The boating industry has been on about a three-year downturn, according to industry reports, and some of the nation&euro&trades largest retailers of boats have shown losses in the first quarter of this fiscal year to be significant.