According to a report titled “Global Yachts Charter Market” done by TransparencyMarketResearch, the global yacht charter market is predicted to attain a value of US$14.987bn by the end of 2025. Asia Pacific countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia is expected to outpace other regions with its rising in economical power and attractive chartering destination. We see a continuous growing opportunity in the recreational boat chartering industry.
We observed and analysed our market for the past few years and came up with 5 possible trends and opportunities in the recreational boat chartering industry moving forward.
1. Business Model: B2C to P2P
The first trend that we see moving forward is the business model of yacht chartering. Previously, boat rental in Asia is done in a Business-to-Consumer method. Customers who would like to book a boat will need to call or send email inquiries to charter companies to make bookings.
In recent years, with the rise of companies such as Airbnb and Uber, sharing economy has become more and more popular. Likewise, we can see the trend in recreational boat chartering as well as companies around the world are building the “Airbnb” for boat rental. Boat owners would list their boats on a platforms like Holimood and guests and rentals will be able to book from these platforms.
Importantly, this will increase the competitiveness of pricing and prevent monopoly of big charter companies. Moreover, this model will allow more people to list their boats and more guests to book as well.
2. Newer Technology in the industry
Secondly, as technology continue to accelerate in growth, it can certainly impact the boat rental industry. Technology can fundamentally affect recreational boat chartering industry in a few ways:
- Technology for Boat
- GPS Tracking
- Digital handling
- Autopilot boats
- Technology for Booking Platform
- Booking Manager for Charter Operator/Agencies
- Online management and payment
The technology for boat will make the boats/yachts more attractive for guests to book from. Furthermore, the technology for booking platform will make booking easier more user-friendly. Hence, it will help advance the recreational boat chartering industry as a whole!
3. Investments opportunities
With recreational boat chartering becoming more common, this means the value of owning a boat/yacht increases. In the past, owning a boat or yacht is a “rich man game” as they do not have second-hand value like houses do, and maintaining them is too expensive. With chartering becoming more common, it opens up the possibility or owning a boat or yacht as an asset. This can significantly reduce the money needed to maintain the fleets and generate profit for buyers.
4. More chartering periods and options
In the past, western countries are known for overnight charter or even weekly charter. However, due to the demand of sailors/guests, different chartering platforms have adapted and started offering hourly charter or day charter. On the flip side, Hong Kong has always been known for day charter options for daily activity such as all-inclusive junk boat party, night cruising, water activities, etc. As boat chartering become more common, we can expect to see chartering platforms and boat owners starting to offer different options for guest to charter overnight or even days for a longer trip.
These are the 4 trends that we see in the boat chartering industry in Asia. Thank you for reading. If you are interested in knowing why people enjoy chartering a yacht/boat in Hong Kong, click here to read more.
If you would like to check out some of the yachts/boat available for rental in Hong Kong, click here.
