Miami, a double occasion for the nautical industry: the Yachts Miami Beach

The Yachts Miami Beach 2016, until last year called the Yacht & Brokerage Show in Miami Beach, was the largest edition since its first one 28 years ago.
The show opened last Thursday and continued until Monday. It displayed yachts and tenders on a mile-long stretch of Indian Creek Waterway along Collins Avenue (along which the Show expanded north since last editions), and on a second new location, the Island Gardens Deep Harbour Marina on Watson Island, which featured a selection of superyachts.
“We will have a limited selection of superyachts there because they will be very large,” commented Efrem “Skip” Zimbalist III, president of Show Management, the company that produces the show and co-owns it with the Florida Yacht Brokers Association, on the newly added location. “These will be yachts that don’t fit in Indian Creek and can take advantage of the deep harbor on Watson Island,” he added.
Yachts Miami Beach took place in the same days as the Miami International Boat Show, making Miami the perfect destination for all nautical professionals and yachting enthusiasts.
According to Zimbalist, various factors are enhancing the growth of Yachts Miami Beach. “Not only are we seeing growth in yachts themselves, but in the tenders that go with them. The high-end center consoles and tenders are growing, and specifically at the Miami Beach show. We’re known for being a large-yacht show, but we are seeing strong growth in that tender [and] center console category, as well.”
“The U.S. market remains the strongest market in the world,” he added. “The strong dollar makes it even more attractive for foreign manufacturers to sell here and to bring offshore brokerage boats to sell into the U.S. market.”