Boating enjoys growth during pandemic
As data continue to float in from 2020, it's increasingly clear the coronavirus pandemic affected the U.S. economy and culture in varied ways.
Among the sectors that lifted last year: boating.
The trend was seen both nationally and in Wisconsin, according to statistics released Jan. 15 by the National Marine Manufacturers Association, a trade group for makers of boats, engines and marine accessories.
About 310,000 new powerboats were sold in the U.S. last year, a 12% increase over 2019, according to NMMA. The unit sales were the highest since before the Great Recession of 2008.
And in Wisconsin boat sales increased 9% in 2020, according to the association.
Boat registrations in Wisconsin last year rose by 2% to 621,114, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
The increases are consistent with greater participation documented in 2020 in many forms of outdoor recreation.
For example, Wisconsin sold 1.27 million fishing licenses last year, an 11% increase from 2019.
Americans turned to the outdoors, including to the water, for healthy, physically-distanced activities during the COVID-19 crisis.
The data show first-time boat buyers increased in 2020 for the first time in more than a decade.
The leading U.S. sales category in 2020 was freshwater fishing boats and pontoons boats, with 143,000 units sold, a 12% year-over-year increase. The boats are valued for versatility and typically more affordable.
Sales of personal watercraft increased 8% to 82,000 units. And wake boats, used for wakesurfing, skiing and wakeboarding and attractive to new and active boaters, registered sales of 13,000 in 2020, up 20%.
The Wisconsin data show the same segments also saw sales growth in 2020, adding up to the 9% year-overyear increase.
Boating has a $4 billion annual economic impact in Wisconsin, including manufacturing, sales and service, boating activities and business tax revenue, according to NMMA.
Boat sales are expected to remain at historic levels in 2021 as manufacturers continue to fill a backlog of orders from 2020, according to an NMMA report.
Additionally, industry leaders expect social distancing protocols to continue well into the latter months of 2021, spurring additional interest in safe outdoor recreation activities such as boating.
Milwaukee Boat Show
This is the time of year thousands of prospective boat buyers are traditionally looking over new boats at the Milwaukee Boat Show, the state's largest such show.
But the event is not being held this year due to the coronavirus pandemic and the unavailability of the Wisconsin State Fair Park Exposition Center, which is being used as a COVID-19 Alternate Care Facility.
Organizers have set its return for Jan. 21-23 and Jan. 26-30, 2022.