In a news cycle that’s heavy with bad news, it’s important to underscore the positive things happening around the marine industry. And there’s a lot to take note of, so I thought I’d spend some time sharing what we’re hearing.
Little by little, politicians are noting the importance of outdoor recreation in today’s physical distancing culture. In Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz recommended from the early days of his shelter-at-home order that getting outside, and notably fishing and boating, was important. Last week, he backed up those words with actions and transitioned boat retailers to “essential” status, allowing them to service boats and sell by appointment.
Within days, Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York reversed a decision to exclude marinas and dealerships from the essential list, collaborating with governors from New Jersey and Connecticut to announce that marinas, boatyards and marine manufacturers will be allowed to open for personal use as long as strict social distancing and sanitation protocols are followed. (Find 49 best practices for creating your strict protocols here.)
In what has been the most restrictive state in terms of boating limitations, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer relaxed boating restrictions on Friday and allowed for prep, delivery, launch and/or curbside pickup of boats in storage or boats ordered online or remotely, provided the business and employees adhere to social distancing guidelines.
And then Miami-Dade County Mayor announced a three-phase plan to reopen public ramps and marinas in south Florida, reversing restrictions he had placed on them a month earlier.
For the dealers around North America, navigating these on-again, off-again restrictions and re-openings has no doubt created challenges, but what we’re seeing is that consumers are turning to boating for the ultimate physical distancing activity.
On Lake Minnetonka outside of Minneapolis, boating activity has rarely, if ever been as heavy as it has been through mid-April. Boat sales reports in the state have been better than expected for many dealers.
“There’s way more interest in boats than I can ever remember there being in April,” says Dave Briggs, who owns Wayzata Marine located on Lake Minnetonka.
MarineMax, Inc., who also has a location on Lake Minnetonka, as well as 60-plus other locations across the United States, reported revenue growth of almost 2 percent in the quarter ended March 31st. While MarineMax noted its results were partially impacted by the pandemic, the company noted that its online engagement with customers has been stronger than usual.
Similarly, Discover Boating, the industry-led marketing campaign to grow participation in recreational boating reported strong performance and growth this week, compared to the same period last year. The Discover Boating team has been tapping into real-time data on consumer interests and providing relevant, helpful content, resulting in record site traffic. Compared to March of 2019, site traffic in 2020 has shown a 30-percent increase in website visitors, 44-percent increase in organic traffic, a 118-percent increase in visitors to the Boat Loan Calculator, a 45-percent increase in female visitors and a 78-percent increase in visitors age 18-24. And things look to be getting even better, as early April saw a 300-percent spike in organic traffic following the release of new content.
While soft spots remain in the market place, the desire to get outside and go boating seems to be on the rise as people remain on shelter-from-home orders and spring temperatures move upward. At Norris Marine in Oklahoma, sales picked up over the last week, and the service department has been busy.
“I’m cautiously optimistic we can get things going,” said owner Shawn Easton. “People’s attitudes change with the direction of the news, but at some point, they’re going to get a little stir crazy and want to get out on the lake.”
At FB Marine Group in Fort Lauderdale, they’ve had to deal with the ramp closures in Miami-Dade, and that has caused a hit on the company’s service work. At the same time, however, boat sales have been solid, and when I spoke to owner Kim Sweers last week — before the ramps had opened back up — the company had sold a couple boats that day.
While certainly cautious optimism will be key, I’m a firm believer that boating could help lead our economy out of this slow down, as people look to socially and physically distance themselves from each other and from the confinement of their homes. And this upward trend for boating could last for years!