Three boat shows around the region have been canceled for next year—and that could be a boon for next month’s boat show in Seattle.

The lagging economy prompted the cancellation of the 2010 boat shows in Tacoma and Everett, while the annual boat show in Vancouver, B.C., was canceled to allow for construction of a retractable roof at BC Place, where the event was to be held.

The Northwest Marine Trade Association, which puts on the Everett show, decided last month to cancel the April event for the second year in a row. The show has been well-attended, attracting between 5,000 and 7,000 people in recent years. But boat brokers and dealers have scaled back their marketing budgets since the industry took a nosedive in 2008, NMTA president George Harris said.

“The exhibitors are being very careful where they spend their boat show dollars,” he said. “The association came to the conclusion that there’s just not enough interest (among exhibitors) in doing another indoor boat show next year.”

The NMTA held a parking lot show in Kirkland last spring focused on small boats, which make up the vast majority of boat sales in Washington annually. Harris said the association is considering a similar show next year, likely in late April or early May.

“I think there’s interest in a spring show,” he said. “You can do an outdoor show, a parking lot sale, much more inexpensively than going indoors.

Bill O’Loughlin is president of Portland, Ore.-based O’Loughin Trade Shows, which produces annual boat shows in Portland and Tacoma. O’Loughlin said while the Portland show will be held Jan. 13 to 17, the company decided to cancel the smaller Tacoma show scheduled for early April.

With boat dealers participating in fewer shows, O’Loughlin said, most in the area are focused on the Seattle boat show in late January. “That’s the number one show. Dealers are putting a lot of dollars and emphasis into that event,” he said.

“When you go into secondary markets, they’ll take less space. Right now, to have a lot of shows in a region isn’t a good idea.”

It wasn’t the recession, but a construction schedule, that sunk next year’s Vancouver International Boat Show. Show manager Jennifer Kastelein said the provincial government, which owns BC Place, notified the show’s organizers in November that it was closing the facility for a year and a half following the 2010 Winter Olympics in February. By that time, she said, it was too late to find an alternate venue.

“This is all to do with the government,” Kastelein said. “It has nothing to do with economics.”

The Vancouver show, which typically includes about 300 exhibitors, will be held at an alternate location in 2011. Kastelein said the cancellation of next year’s show may be a blessing in disguise, given the industry’s economic challenges and the fact that the show, normally held in January or February, was bumped back to April because of the Olympics.

“I think it would have been challenging for the boat dealers to be able to deliver boats to the end consumer in a timely fashion,” she said. “That whole cycle changes.”

But Vancouver’s loss may be Seattle’s gain. Harris said about half a dozen exhibitors have already signed up for the Seattle show, including a charter company, a boat manufacturer, a custom aluminum company and a bank. More may follow, and Harris is also expecting a bump in attendees from north of the border.

“You think of all the boaters in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island that love boats, want to be around boats, want to look at boats and won’t have a wintertime show in Vancouver,” he said.

“Seattle’s easy to get to. I think we’re going to see more attendees from B.C. and Alberta come to the the show than usual.”

The Seattle Boat Show Indoors + Afloat will be held from Jan. 29 to Feb. 6 at Qwest Field Event Center and on Lake Union. Tickets and additional information are available on the show’s website.