A boat show is a public exhibition

Exhibition

An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within museums, galleries and exhibition halls, and World's Fairs...

 or trade fair

Trade fair

A trade fair is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products, service, study activities of rivals and examine recent market trends and opportunities...

  of current boat models, debuts, concept vessels, or out-of-production classics. Due to the nature of the industry building around yachting

Yachting

Yachting refers to recreational sailing or boating, the specific act of sailing or using other water vessels for sporting purposes.-Competitive sailing:...

 and nautical tourism

Nautical tourism

Nautical tourism is an increasingly popular way to combine love of sailing and boating with vacation and holiday activities. First defined as an industry segment in Europe and South America, it has since caught on in the United States and the Pacific Rim....

, a boat show may be a social event. It is commonly attended by marine manufacturers, ship and boat builders as well as yachtsmen.

Most boat shows occur once a year, typically for the duration of a week. They may have exhibitions on land or on water. Boat shows are vital to marine manufacturers and local dealers as a public relations exercise, for advertising products, and for increasing publicity.

List of boat shows

The following boat shows are recognized by the International Federation of Boat Show Organisers (IFBSO).

Location	Show	Exhibition Space	# Exhibitors	# Foreign exh. thereof	# Visitors	data as of
Athens Athens Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state... , Greece Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....	Athens International Boat Show	50,000 m²	287	7	89,897	2009
Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of... , Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...	Barcelona International Boat Show	110,000 m²	387	64	17,907	2009
Dubai Dubai Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi... , United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...	Dubai International Boat Show	85,000 m²	702	247	23,000	2010
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the... , Messe Messe Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Messe is a trade fair ground and organizer, based in Düsseldorf, Germany. With a workforce of 1,459 employees worldwide and a total exhibition space of 285,000 sqm in Düsseldorf, the company is one of the largest in the industry... , Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...	boot Düsseldorf Boot Düsseldorf The Düsseldorf International Boat Show , more commonly known as boot Düsseldorf or just boot , is one of the world's premier boat shows....	220,000 m²	1,577	677	240,200	2010
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...	Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show	278,700 m²	986	132	117,200	2008
Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen This article is about a German town. For the Danish town, see Frederikshavn, and for the Finnish town, see Fredrikshamn .Friedrichshafen is a university city on the northern side of Lake Constance in Southern Germany, near the borders with Switzerland and Austria.It is the district capital of the... , Germany	INTERBOOT Interboot Interboot is an exhibition held in Friedrichshafen, Germany to promote the use of pleasure boats and general fun on the water....  - International Watersports Exhibition	67,000 m²	512	123	93,800	2009
Genoa Genoa Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria.... , Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...	Genoa International Boat Show Genoa International Boat Show The Genoa International Boat Show is one of the world's premier boat shows, held annually in Genoa, Italy, typically during the month of October...	311,000 m²	1,450	560	280,500	2009
Gothenburg Gothenburg Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area... , Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....	Gothenburg Boat Show	32,950 m²	344	12	77,124	2010
Hamburg Hamburg -History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808... , Germany	hanseboot - International Boat Show Hamburg	85,274 m²	765	124	96,059	2008
Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is... , Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...	Helsinki International Boat Show	44,000 m²	345	8	74,551	2010
Lisbon Lisbon Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban... , Portugal Portugal Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...	Lisbon Boat Show	30,000 m²	340	54	79,664	2009
London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... , England, United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...	London Boat Show London Boat Show The London Boat Show is held each January at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London, just opposite the O2 and the centre of London's business and entertainment centre. It is a very large event, now in its 54th year, which uses ExCeL's two 32,500 square metre halls...	52,000 m²	520	40	103,000	2010
Miami, Floirda, United States	Miami International Boat Show Miami International Boat Show The Miami International Boat Show is an annual event in February, produced by the in Miami and Miami Beach, Florida, United States. It is currently held in three separate venues; two in Downtown Miami, and the other in Miami Beach. Over 1,700 companies that are NMMA members, produce more than 80%...  & Strictly Sail Miami	225,430 m²	2,000	41	91,415	2010
Portorož Portorož - External links :**... , Slovenia Slovenia Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...	Internautica, International Boat Show	37,400 m²	386	221	19,479	2010
Shanghai Shanghai Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010... , PR China	Shanghai International Boat Show	32,000 m²	400	98	15,287	2010
Southampton Southampton Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest... , England, United Kingdom	Southampton Boat Show Southampton Boat Show The Southampton Boat Show is the biggest water based boat show in Europe. It has been held every September since 1969 in Mayflower Park, Southampton, England. It is one of the two major annual boat shows in the United Kingdom, alongside the London Boat Show...	154,000 m²	560	86	122,000	2009
Split Split (city) Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and... , Croatia Croatia Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...	Croatia Boat Show Croatia Boat Show The Croatia Boat Show is a boat show, held annually in the city of Split, Croatia, typically during the month of April. The exhibition is organised by Croatian business entrepreneur Vicenco Blagaić, and takes place at the City harbour of the Port of Split.- See also :* List of sailboat designers...	128,000 m²	382	117	37,400	2009
Stockholm Stockholm Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area... , Sweden	Stockholm International Boat Show	65,000 m²	472	31	104,657	2010
Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people... , Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...	Sydney International Boat Show	25,000 m²	263	7	71,810	2009
Yokohama Yokohama is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu... , Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	Japan International Boat Show	16,740 m²	170	8	42,000	2010

External links

• International Federation of Boat Show Organisers (IFBSO)