Fine weather and a flurry of late exhibitor bookings made for a record-breaking South Wales boat show last weekend.

South Wales Boat Show 2009 photo gallery 

Officially opened on Friday 12 June by the Managing Director of National Boat Shows, Andrew Williams, the fourth South Wales Boat Show went on to attract a record breaking 15,028 visitors over the three day annual event at Margam Park near Port Talbot.

Delighted show organiser, Ben Sutcliffe, said that given the current state of the economy he was much relieved and that his expectations, along with those of his supportive 173 exhibitors, were greatly exceeded. He sincerely hopes that the trend-bucking number of visitors to his own local show will be the first reported sign of green shoots for the whole British marine industry.

Praising this now-established regional event, which is supported by National Boat Shows ongoing `Friends of the Show` initiative that aims to help non-competitive shows and marine events throughout the UK with the cross-promotion of boating, Mr Williams said:

“Ben and his team deserve all the thanks they received for putting on an excellent show during these challenging economic times. I was pleased to be invited to take part in the opening for the second year running and also very happy that NBS has continued to work with this show to help attract more people, particularly children, into boating. The event was even bigger and better than last year – a testament to the reputation the show is steadily gaining, not only in the local area, but also in the wider boating industry.”

Echoing these comments, Mr Sutcliffe added:

“We are really grateful once more for the invaluable support and advice from NBS – particularly for their help with our ‘Come and Try a Watersport’ feature which allowed over 1000 youngsters to enjoy a free taste of boating on the lake – and we are looking forward to again working with Andrew and his colleagues on the lead up to the North Wales Boat Show on 24th July.”

www.northwalesboatshow.co.uk