Attendance and innovation up year over year as North America’s premier marine event sets the pace for 2026
The International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition and Conference (IBEX) announced today that this year’s show, which closed on Thursday, October 9, saw year-over-year growth in attendance, reinforcing its position as North America’s premier marine event. From networking events to insightful seminars and bustling docks and booths, IBEX 2025 brought decision makers together to move the industry “Fast Forward.”
IBEX 2025 welcomed 7600 professionals from more than 70 countries to a packed Tampa Convention Center. The show featured displays from 710 exhibitors, including 115 companies that were new to IBEX this year. Also attending their first show were in excess of 70 students from South Florida marine technical programs. These future boatbuilders and marine technicians were part of the IBEX Career Day program, produced in collaboration with the American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC).
The show kicked off in high gear on Tuesday, October 7 at the annual Industry Breakfast, Innovation Awards Presentation and Keynote, attended by more than 900 industry professionals. NMMA President and CEO Frank Hugelmeyer delivered his Industry Address, while Kevin O’Connor, Emmy Award-winning TV host of This Old House and Ask This Old House, gave an inspiring keynote. The Innovation Awards judges recognized the next generation of material and technological advancements, announcing 12 Innovation Award winners and four honorable mentions, chosen from among the program-record 112 entries submitted by exhibiting marine industry companies. Products can be viewed on the online Innovation Way Showcase.
New educational experiences such as the Marine Ideas Exchange (MIX) on the IBEX Main Stage, along with signature networking events like Pitch the Press, the Opening Night Party, and the Mid-Show Mixer, drew impressive crowds and contributed to a notable increase in overall education participation. At the core of the event was IBEX’s exclusive lineup of curated, expert-led technical sessions offering highly specialized content available only at IBEX. These sessions delivered the in-depth, hands-on learning the show is known for, covering advanced boatbuilding techniques, materials innovation, systems integration, and design solutions. Complementing this technical focus, new Main Stage programming expanded the conversation to include broader themes in business strategy and leadership, offering fresh perspectives and actionable insights that resonated with attendees. Together, these educational and networking opportunities reinforced IBEX’s position as the marine industry’s essential platform for innovation, learning, and connection.
“Boatbuilding is a decentralized and diverse industry, strengthened by a global network of innovators and skilled professionals,” said Mary Velline, IBEX Show Director. “IBEX brings that community together each year to share challenges, celebrate breakthroughs, and spark the ideas that move our industry forward.”
Exhibitors and attendees had positive comments about all elements of the Show.
“From preshow promotion to the nuts and bolts of the show, we feel it was a resounding success,” said Pat Brown, President of Teak Isle. “We noticed that the builders seemed to be bringing larger groups of people this year than in the past. This showed their dedication to needing to develop new models and that IBEX is the place to find the information and products to do that.”
“IBEX is always a fantastic opportunity to connect with our partners, distributors, media, and friends from across the marine industry,” said Marcus Hamilton, CEO, Propspeed. “This year was especially exciting as we introduced the new Foulfree™ Multi-Surface System and received such positive feedback from the market. It’s a show that continues to help us build relationships and share our innovations with the people who make this industry thrive.”
“This was the best show we’ve had in the past four years,” said Kent Jopling, Senior Global Sales Manager, Special Markets, Harman Marine. “We were able to display many new technologies that will make ‘the life in a day of a boater’ less stressful and more enjoyable. Boat builders obviously recognized this which was evident in the number of new leads and opportunities we walked away with from IBEX. Now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and go to work turning opportunities into reality.”
“It was a great show for Boat Fix,” said Boat Fix Founder, Alastair Crawford. “We definitely felt that there was more quality foot traffic in terms of visitor attendance. It was great to see both existing and new OEM customers – and interestingly we are now being approached in record numbers by boat manufacturers realizing the gamechanger value of our after sales support and 24/7 customer service.”
IBEX will return to the Tampa Convention Center, with IBEX 2026 Show dates set for October 6 – 8, 2026. For more information, visit www.ibexshow.com.
https://www.ibexshow.com/ibex365/news/ibex-2025-delivers-momentum-and-vision-for-the-year-ahead
