The year 2016 was busy with politics. Therefore, business was not as good as expected. Yacht brokers insist that potential buyers typically hold on from buying or chartering yachts because of the elections.
However, since the political unrest is over, the yacht business is returning to its feet. “We expect a change in the market by mid-2017,” says Fred CSB group yachting division. He goes on further to insist that at the beginning of the year the trend will rise as people settle from the political unrest in the previous year.
What do we expect to see in the year 2017?
1. Russians Comeback into the Superyacht business
The number of Russians who walk into shipyards to buy yachts has gone down for the last five years. However, brokerage firms expect this trend to change. While approaching the end of 2016, more Russians have been buying yachts, and this year more of them will be potential clients.
Recently, oil prices have gone high thus, favoring more wealthy Russians because most of the money is in the oil stock market.
2. Charter Clients will want to explore new places
A Mediterranean port such as Malta is a great destination for many charter clients. However, more clients want to explore other ports that many would ignore. Additionally, clients would want to explore other routes, like an alternative route to the Caribbean.
Some of the hotspots that these clients may begin to target include South East Asia, the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia, and other port destination that are ‘noiseless.’
- Influx of Asian buyers
The Asian market has not been as good as the brokers would want. They claim that Asians have not yet reached full potential. Therefore, waiting for them to discover themselves is the best option. However, the yacht industry desires to enter into this potential market and lure them into buying superyachts. Some of the expected clients would come from countries such as India and China.
4. Chartering Yachts is the best approach to get new buyers
Getting new clients to buy these yachts is not easy. This is because brokers have to do their best to convince customers to invest the money they worked hard for into something that they are new to. Therefore, to market these super machines, the industry has embraced social media as a great tool to influence customers. For instance, they put their advertisement on an influencer’s page so that they can get more attention for potential customers
Additionally, chartering is another way of enticing potential buyers. More firms will embrace chartering because it is an excellent opportunity to capture most clients’ attention.
5. Most Yachts will have a beach club design
Beach clubs have become a popular trend on small and big boats. Consequently, more clients will expect to have this feature designed on their boats during this year. This is because most customers want to relax near the water.
6. Last Minute Charter Deals During Summer
During the summer of the past two years, most customers refuse to make early bookings. This is because of the political instability that is taking place. Brokers state that very few clients opt to make early reservations.
Additionally, brokers do not expect any change in the trend even during the year 2017 if the political instability does not change. Many clients will opt to make late bookings.
Brokers would love a politically stable environment if asked. This will make the yacht firms more hopeful of a good profitable year. For instance, the current sanctions by Trump on Russia have a direct influence on the Superyacht market.
Analysts also say that the Superyacht industry will continue to grow from this year onwards. This is because more people are becoming maritime tourists than ever before.
