Moncton welcomes return of boat show — and its revenue

Boat show vendors at the Moncton Coliseum were surprised to see such a strong turnout on Saturday at the trade show that can be big business for the city.

In a statement provided to Global News on Friday, the city’s corporate communications director, Isabelle LeBlanc, called trade shows “a strong economic driver” for Moncton.

“Prior to the pandemic, trade shows at the Moncton Coliseum brought in $8 million in economic impact for Moncton and $11.5 million for the province,” she said in the statement, noting that several more trade shows are planned over the coming months.

Boat salesperson Ronnie MacDougall said that though the future looked uncertain for the boating industry at the beginning of the pandemic, “to everyone’s surprise in a good way, boat sales took off.”

“I’d say (sales were) 40 per cent more than of our better years due to the demand for product,” MacDougall said in an interview on Saturday.

He said even if restrictions had permitted, it would have been almost impossible to hold a trade show in 2021 due to the combination of ongoing supply chain issues and the mounting number of people looking for a boat as a safe cure to lockdown-induced cabin fever.

“For the manufacturers, they can’t manufacture for the boats that are being sold, the demand is so high,” he said.

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MacDougall said that the roughly 15 per cent increase he’s seen in the price of boats over the past year and a half has not quelled demand.

Boaters like Margaret Young consider it money well spent.

She was at the trade show looking for a small boat so she could go fishing with her therapy dog and said she’s been boating more often during the pandemic.

“It gets rid of stress, always does. It helps you see that there is a future,” she said on Saturday.