January 6, 2026

We are rapidly coming up to Canada‘s two largest boat shows, the Vancouver International Boat Show and the Toronto International Boat Show, both starting in under two weeks. Many of our Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest readers will be exhibitors and we recognize that this is a major commitment in marketing funds and time. Understandably, everyone wants to make the most of their opportunity and their investment.

We will be going through the shows looking for those luxury touches that helped to set one exhibitor apart from their competitors and also to note the things that make the whole boat show experience more enjoyable for our customers. I know I will be going through the show with eyes wide open and camera clicking away looking for your great ideas. Also, it’s again my honour to be on the podium at the Industry Breakfast in Toronto and I look forward to seeing you there. I will be sharing a few more ideas in my brief presentation to open the show.

The more I think about the whole concept of luxury, the more I realize that it is a powerful driver for our industry and yet, it’s a wide open subject that invites a broad range of creative ideas and executions

This week I’ve reached out to a number of businesses to ask for their ideas and input, and it is my plan to share those with our readers at the boat show and also in upcoming editions of Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest.

It’s my hope to discover that luxury isn’t just a matter of expense. I’m more interested in the creative aspects of how our customers perceive luxury and the aspects of it that will attract those people.

I am certain that we will see some incredible new boats at the show, but I also believe it’s inevitable that we will see price tags above anything that we have seen in the past.

Circumstances are elevating new boat purchases to levels beyond what the average Canadian family could afford, but we will still have sales and business, there will be buyers and our industry will have the opportunity to do well in the future. We just need to set the pace and meet or exceed, the expectations of our customers.

I look forward to seeing you at the show and I welcome your ideas and input!

Andy Adams, Editor