PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. – The 31st Palm Beach International Boat Showruns March 17 to March 20. The event features more than $1.2 billion worth of boats yachts and accessories.
At the Viking Yacht Services Center in Riviera Beach boats are being scrubbed and scraped because in a just a matter of days all eyes will be on these boats.
“Right now on all our boats, we're prepping for the show,” explained Viking Yacht Southeast Sales Manager Ryan Higgins. “We have detail crews on them, we're making sure everything is polished up, show ready and getting ready for a big crowd to attend this year’s show.”
And big crowds are expected. In 2015 attendance was up 17 percent and the number of boats on display increased over the year before. The number of boats on display also increased last year. In 2016 the boats are getting bigger.
“This year we'll be displaying our 75 Motor Yacht at the show for the first time,” Said Higgins. “Which is a great event for us to show it at, so we're very excited about that.”
Hotels rooms in the downtown West Palm Beach area are already scarce. A quick search online reveals most are sold out or quickly approaching capacity. That's good news for companies like Viking Yacht who has eight boats heading to the show.
“This is kind of our last big show before the boating season kicks off,” Higgins detailed. “It's our last chance to everyone in the right boat for the season.”