WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — It's the weekend of the 43rd Annual Palm Beach International Boat Show, drawing in large crowds to downtown Palm Beach to admire the thousands of boats and 200 superyachts on display.
WPTV is digging deeper into the economic impact of the event on the county. WPTV Reporter Christy Waite spoke with the Executive Director for the Marine Industries of Palm Beach County, Alyssa Freeman, to dig deeper into the economic impact of the event on the country.
The Palm Beach International Boat Show is one of the top ten boat shows in the world, sitting second after the Monaco Yacht Show. Freeman said that the event has a more than $1 billion economic impact and results in more than $725 million in sales.
Non-profits also benefit from the event, as customers have the option to donate money when buying their ticket. Freeman says they have given $1 million to dozens of nonprofits for marine-related programs.
The event continues to grow in popularity. With the increase of guests, the decision was made to make the event five days.
Dillon Petaraca brought two of his kids to this year's boat show for the first time. He says the event serves as a learning opportunity.
"We home school, so any opportunity we have to expose our children to see entrepreneurship, different business, it's a really cool opportunity to give them those shots," Petaraca said.
The boat show runs through Sunday, March 23.
