“Advance registrations traditionally make up only a small part of the total visitor numbers,” said Grenville Fordham, managing director of PIMEX organisers, Image Asia Events. “But they are a strong indication of the visitor trend,” he continued, adding that there was also an unprecedented number of advance registrations from Bangkok, following on from October’s successful PIMEX Preview in Bangkok’s business district.

Visitors already registered for Thailand’s only international boatshow, which will be held from 7-10 December at Phuket Boat Lagoon Marina, are coming from Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Nigeria, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, UK and USA.

“Surprisingly, we’ve been disappointed in previous years with number of visitors from here on Phuket itself, so this year we’ve mounted an intensive local publicity campaign targeting the property, expatriate and tourism sectors. Nobody on the island can be unaware of PIMEX 2006,” said Fordham.

PIMEX 2006 will have more boats on display – the current count is 60 boats – both in the water and on the hardstand, than any other regional show is able to achieve. They range from fast rigid inflatable boats priced at around US$10,000, through small trailer-boats at US$30-50,000, all the way to prestigious luxury motor yachts that can go for US$1 million upwards – and everything imaginable in between.

More than 100 international boating brands, mostly represented by local and national distributors targeting Phuket’s booming marine leisure sector, mean the range of choice is hard to imagine. For anyone in South East Asia who is thinking about a boat purchase, PIMEX 2006 is a must-visit and an opportunity for some superb bargains.

Whether it’s a power boat or sail boat, Phuket’s boatshow has something for every price range and taste, not to mention some great deals limited to four days of the show, such as a Range Rover/trailer boat combination at a very special PIMEX price.

Add to that the opportunity to view island homes and resorts, luxury marina condominiums or to arrange an exotic yacht charter anywhere in Thailand, and PIMEX makes a great way to spend a day… or more.

As one visitor said last year, “The show was great… my two boys had a whale of a time, and I did some shopping too! Unexpectedly, I found several things of interest [to my resort], so I mixed some business with a great deal of pleasure.”

Entry to PIMEX is free of charge, and there are many opportunities, both within the show itself and around the Boat Lagoon Marina, to take a break waterside for lunch or a drink and soak up the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Thailand’s only international boatshow.