Miami Brokerage Show Has New Name, but Same Location - International Yacht Brokers Association

MIAMI BROKERAGE SHOW HAS NEW NAME, BUT SAME LOCATION

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — The Yacht & Brokerage Show in Miami Beach has a new name. It is Yachts Miami Beach. The show will be held where it always has been, on Miami Beach’s Indian Creek Waterway and Collins Avenue (between 41st and 54th streets in 2016).


The Feb. 11-15 show will be held on the same weekend as the Miami International Boat Show, as it always has, but it is not affiliated with nor is it affected by the Miami boat show’s move from the Miami Beach Convention Center to Virginia Key in 2016.


Those were the messages from Efrem “Skip” Zimbalist III, CEO of Show Management, the co-owner of Yachts Miami Beach; Jason Dunbar, secretary of the Florida Yacht Brokers Association, also a co-owner of Yachts Miami Beach; and Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine at a press conference Wednesday at Miami Beach City Hall.


The two shows have different owners. Show Management and FYBA co-own Yachts Miami Beach. The National Marine Manufacturers Association owns the Miami International Boat Show. They fall on the same weekend. Only the Miami boat show is moving — to Virginia Key.


There’s been a lot of confusion about whether Yachts Miami Beach is moving from Collins Avenue in light of the Miami boat show’s move, Zimbalist said. “We’ve had calls from South America, ‘Are you going to Virginia Key this year?’ ” he said in an interview. “We’ve had calls from exhibitors, ‘So you’re moving this year.’ ”


No. “We want people to know the show is staying here [on Collins Avenue] and will always be here and they can expect it to be bigger and better than ever,” Zimbalist said.

He expects 500 boats, evenly split between new and brokerage.


Levine drove the point home. “It’s important for everyone to understand that the boat show is staying,” he said.


And that’s a good thing, he said, because it fills hotel rooms, Miami Beach’s bread-and-butter. FYBA’s Dunbar said it also employs mechanics, electricians, plumbers, hull polishers and a host of other workers.


“The boat show is good for local businesses,” he said.


Zimbalist reminded reporters that this year’s show will have a second location for superyachts — Island Gardens Deep Harbour Marina on Watson Island, which can accommodate 35 to 75 yachts from 80 to 550 feet.