Miami International Boat Show 2022 To Start And Finish Early

In January, the National Marine Manufacturers Association announced that the Miami International Boat Show would return in 2022 to its former and since-revamped Miami Convention Center location after a five-year stint on Virginia Key. For the most part, that news was celebrated in the high-performance marine industry and consumer worlds. Though the docks at the Miami Marine Stadium were a short stroll from the tented exhibits, which made demo rides convenient for attendees, getting to and from Virginia Key was inconvenient at best for show-goers and exhibitors alike.

Though Outerlimits may not have boats in the water during the next year’s Miami International Boat Show, the Bristol, R.I., company will exhibit in the revamped convention center venue. Photos from the 2020 Miami International Boat Show by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

Mostly lost in that news, however, is that the 2022 event scheduled for February 16-22 will run from Wednesday through Sunday rather than Thursday through Monday, which falls on the President’s Day holiday.

“Monday was always the toughest day of the show,” said Dan Kleitz of Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats of Bristol, R.I., which will exhibit inside the convention center but likely will pass on having a boat at the show’s Sea Isle Marina and Yachting Center in-water venue. “There was a lot of traffic, but mostly it was just people who had the day off and were just looking for something to do. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that but it doesn’t usually translate to boat sales.”

Like Kleitz, Randy Scism of MTI in Wentzville, Mo., said he appreciates the schedule change as part of the event’s wholesale relocation. Despite the high-performance catamaran and center console company’s prime (and accordingly expensive) end-of-dock display on Virginia Key, Scism was more than ready for a change. MTI will exhibit indoors as well as the Sea Isle Marina docks across the causeway from the rennovated convention center venue.

“We’re excited to go back to the Miami Show and be indoors—I think it’s going to be great,” he said. “The traffic and the trip to get to the Virginia key was terrible. Lots of our clients quit coming to the show because it was so hard to access. We used to have clients come down every year and come see us and enjoy Miami, but it just got to be too much of a pain for him for them.

“We plan on having boats at the show and demos in the water,” he added. “It should be awesome.”

MTI’s Randy Scism is delighted that the Miami event is returning to its original venue.

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