February 17, 2026

In the last Editor’s Message from February 10th, I said that I would be attending the Discover Boating® Miami International Boat Show® with my eyes wide-open in the wake of the announcement that Informa Markets who operate the Miami Show, was to buy the Toronto International Boat Show. That is a very big development for TIBS and I wondered if I would see big differences between the two shows when I got to Miami.

How might our show change from past shows when Informa Markets, with all their resources, takes it over? Remember that I am attending as a media person and frankly, I see what a consumer attendee sees. It’s probably very different from the experience an exhibitor has with show management including Informa. I can’t comment on that. But the section of MIBS at the recently renovated Miami Beach Convention Centre, seems like a far larger building from the outside and yet the show floor seems smaller that the Enercare Centre in Toronto.

The Miami show is spread across three locations, Sailor’s Cove off the MacArthur Causeway, the Miami Beach Convention Centre and north of that, the Yacht Collection north on Collins Avenue. Shuttle busses carry people from one location to another. In total, Miami is a far larger  show, but the traffic delays and time to go from one location to another is not enjoyable.

Toronto could accommodate an increase in the number and the size of boats, and the very high ceiling could accommodate even larger keel boats, if there were any to display. Hopefully, now that the Luxury Tax is ended, we will see the return of big sail to Toronto and Vancouver, but that remains to be seen.

I appreciate the actual ticket sales kiosk at Toronto. People can come on an impulse, accommodate last-minute friends or family and so on. MIBS was all digital with no ticket sales at the show. You could buy a ticket on short notice, but it requires you to go online.

In terms of the visitor experience, I didn’t find much difference and the show food was comparably dull and expensive in both cases.

One observation I had, was that the ceiling in the Enercare Centre in Toronto is very high and painted white. It feels bright, sunny and spacious. The Miami Beach Convention Centre has a black ceiling and it feels darker, more enclosed and generally, not as nice in my opinion. The boats look better in Toronto.

Last comment; Toronto has abundant indoor parking below the show floor. It’s very convenient and comfortable.

So, comparing Toronto to Miami, there seems to be little real difference between the shows other than the obvious three remote locations. Could Informa Markets expand Toronto to the point where it needs a second location and shuttle busses?

I really hope not. The traffic is bad in both locations. So, might Informa look to entirely relocate the Toronto show in the future? That’s long been a discussion, but as a life-long Toronto resident, I can’t think of where else the show could go.

Judging by my experience last week in Miami, I’m feeling like show visitors might not notice any difference at the 2027 Toronto show.

Maybe that would be the best outcome. Time will tell…

Andy Adams – Editor