For six decades, the Los Angeles Boat Show called the Los Angeles Convention Center home. All that changed last week as the new company behind the show — Duncan McIntosh Co. Inc., which publishes Sea Magazine, Boating World and The Log Newspaper, FishRap and Editor & Publisher — opted to move the show to the popular Fairplex in Pomona, which is about 30 miles east of downtown L.A.
The 61st annual Los Angeles Boat Show took place at the Fairplex in Pomona for the first time last week. Photo courtesy L.A. Boat Show
The move happened in large part because of the many vendors who voiced their displeasure over the convention center for the past several years, and ended up being moderately supported by local performance boat builders and accessory suppliers. In terms of other markets, such as wakesports, pontoons and personal watercraft, they were all represented according to a few contacts I spoke with after missing my first L.A. Boat Show since 2005. (My family’s move to Northern California was timed with the show’s move so it just didn’t work out this year.)
As expected, depending on sales, location and the overall foot traffic or exposure, the opinions of those I spoke with varied. Generally the location itself was well received but the organization, according to a couple of sources, had plenty of room for improvement.
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