PIMEX generates marine industry business and showcases marine leisure lifestyle to over 4,000 visitors of 22 nationalities.
PHUKET – ‘Asia’s favourite boat show’, the Phuket International Boat Show (PIMEX) finished today at Royal Phuket Marina bringing to a close the 10th Anniversary of the region’s largest consumer boat show.
PIMEX 2013 combined luxury and lifestyle with a backdrop of marina-side cocktail parties and VIP functions over four days. Leading brands and boat marques were on display, from multi-million dollar superyachts to trailerable boats, marine products and services, luxury real estate and more.
PIMEX has developed a reputation over the last 10 years for attracting the right kind of visitors. With a strong turnout of over 4,000 visitors this year, the show remains a niche consumer event that delivers a solid B2C platform for marine and lifestyle businesses, generating strong sales leads for exhibitors each year.
Organisers recorded over 22 nationalities of visitors attending the show this year, with Russian visitors large in number.
“Our marketing this year has targetted key international and domestic markets that are in-line with our exhibitors needs and the success has been in the visitor make-up, in particular the growing Russian attendance and interest in the marine leisure and luxury lifestyle,” said Andy Dowden, PIMEX Show Director.
Also of note has been the growing number of domestic visitors, both Thai and expatriate residents in Thailand.
“We’ve been attending PIMEX for about five years and each year we see a growing interest in our business and products. We’ve had a lot of interest from Thais and from overseas we see interest from Swiss, Russian and American clients,” commented Wachiraporn Putrakul, Thailand Director of Sales & Marketing, Shin Woo Ind. Co. Ltd., (SPLO Yachts).
“The marine leisure lifestyle is still relatively new to Thai people, but the level of interest is growing and its great to see a year-on-year increase by Thai visitors to the Show,” added Dowden.
Phuket’s tourism industry is seeing rapid growth in numbers recent figures show record year-on-year growth of over 30%. The marine industry has developed in sync with this and has also seen exponential growth over recent years, retaining its position as the regional hub for marine leisure tourism.
As the region heads towards 2015 and the ASEAN Economic Community, Phuket’s marine industry is well positioned to develop further and cement its status as the playground of the rich and famous.
“We’re proud to have contributed to the growth of the marine industry in Phuket and the region through PIMEX over the last 10 years, and look forward to the next 10 years. As the traditional boating markets of Europe and the Americas are facing hard times, all eyes are on Asia for future growth and Phuket is positioned at the region’s heart to lead that growth,” concluded Dowden.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
