Marinas NAICS 713930

Mar 7, 2025 - Expenses Rise, Gross Profits Fall

• According to the 2024 Marina Dock Age Annual Marina/Boatyard Trends Survey, 84% of respondents said expenses increased for the year citing insurance costs (up 85%), utilities (up 71%), and staff costs (up 70%). Expenses that owners have more control over like training, marketing, and inventory tended to hold steady. Marinas and boatyards mostly passed the increases along to customers, with 70% raising slip fees and 60% raising service rates. Other segments that showed higher revenues for 2024 were dry storage, boat repair/maintenance, fuel, transient slips, and haul out. Segments posting revenue decreases included new boat sales, used boat sales, and tour boat/chartered/water taxi. Fewer respondents reported an increase in gross profits, with 44% seeing an increase in profits (compared to 64% in 2023), and 22% citing a profit loss. The survey was open from November 2024 to February 2025 and provides operations and trends results for an expanded view of the marina/boatyard industry.
• The number of new boaters who sold their boat within four years rose slightly in 2024, and anecdotal evidence shows consumer cost pressures are a factor in leaving the sport, according to a report in Trade Only Today. Marinas may see less usage if there is a decline in the number of active boaters. According to data from Info-Link Technologies for Soundings Trade Only, the share of new-boat buyers who sold their boat after four years was about 24% in 2024, higher than the industry average of 20%. The source noted that the boating industry had a surge of buyers during the pandemic, so while the share of boat owners leaving the sport has increased, the number of buyers was also higher than average. A combination of factors may be weighing on consumers, including high prices from inflation causing a reduction in discretionary spending, an increased feeling of anxiety, and a sense of being time-crunched that prevents people from taking their boats out. Industry experts also indicated that boat usage overall also seems to be falling. According to Matt Gruhn, president of the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, “There appears to be a decline in boat usage. The dealers are talking about it, that throughout all the ups and downs of our industry, boat usage has largely stayed the same. They have this anecdotal evidence that the boat ramps aren’t as busy. The waterways aren’t as busy. There’s no data, but it seems like there’s some kind of a decline.”

• New-boat registrations were down in September 2024, though the curve has leveled somewhat, according to a recent report in Trade Only Today. Registrations for all seven segments totaled 232,731 in September on a rolling, 12-month basis, compared with 263,341 for the same period in 2023. The 15-foot-and-over US powerboat market fell by 9.2% in September year over year, compared to a 11.7% decline in August year over year. Major declines also came in the pontoon (down 17.2% in September year over year), cruiser/yacht (down 18% in September), and saltwater fishboat (down 15.9% in September) categories. States with the highest new-boat registrations in September on a rolling, 12-month basis were Florida, Texas, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, although all saw declines during the same period. Data for the new-boat registrations was provided by Florida-based data provider Info-Link.
• Marina operators will have to monitor minimum wage changes in 2025, as 21 states and 50 local jurisdictions increased their minimum wages, according to Chain Store Age. States with the highest minimum wage in the US are Washington ($16.66 per hour), California ($16.50), and New York ($16.50). Nearly 30 cities in California and seven towns in Washington will raise minimum wages in 2025, with Tukwila, Washington, offering the highest minimum hourly wage in the US at $21.10. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the minimum wage change will affect more than $9 million workers and raise pay by a combined $5.7 billion. Unchanged since 2009, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, and some 20 states, primarily located in the South and the Midwest, use the federal minimum as their wage floor.