Charter boost
In light of current restrictions, the Australian domestic superyacht charter industry has been presented with an opportunity to increase market penetration.
02 July 2020
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With no international travel on the horizon for some time to come and the international cruise industry unable to operate in this current climate, a golden opportunity has arisen for the Australian charter market.
According to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), 1.35 million Australians went on a cruise in 2018, representing over 5 percent of the total population.
Comparatively, 3.7 percent of the USA’s population took a cruise and 3 percent of the UK’s population. The USA was the longstanding leader in cruise market penetration for many years until Australia took over in 2013.
That has all changed, however, for regular cruise passengers who, due to the effect COVID-19 has had on tourism industries, are unable to take their annual journeys.
A strong option for these passengers is to reconsider their norm and get on board an Australian-based charter vessel for the ultimate luxury cruising experience.
Many term charters on superyachts in Australia can offer all-inclusive packages so that they are more easily compared to high-end cruise marketing.
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These high-end cruise passengers regularly pay in excess of $50,000 per person and frequently treat their extended family of 8–12 members to a cruise.
Once these customers experience the exceptional service from an attentive crew and an itinerary completely dedicated to them, we hope they will then progress into larger yachts. More experienced charterers will then realise the benefits of moving from all-inclusive to the normal Advance Provisioning Allowance (APA) model.
Australians spend around $65 billion annually on overseas holidays, and with travel off the cards for the foreseeable future, travellers are starting to think about how to enjoy what Australia has to offer. Converting just 1 percent of top-end Australian cruise passengers equates to 13,500 new superyacht guests chartering vessels available in Australia.
Australia is home to some of the most spectacular coastal and aquatic attractions in the world as well as the largest domestic fleet of superyachts available for charter in the Asia–Pacific region.
The majority of these vessels are based in New South Wales and Queensland, but vessels will regularly conduct charters through Western Australia, Northern Territory, Victoria and Tasmania.
This, coupled with the new Special Recreational Vessel Act that became law in December 2019 allowing foreign superyachts to also enter Australia for charter, will help stimulate this potential large influx of new charter clients. With the domestic travel in Australia now open, potentially followed by the South Pacific later in the year for Australians, both regions offer very attractive itineraries for charter guests to enjoy.
“Superyacht Australia will coordinate a promotional campaign through a cross-section of channels. Our objective will be to convert these potential customers into new clients for our member vessels such as M/Y Oneworld, M/Y Silent World, M/Y Spirit and M/Y Dreamtime as well as for our charter brokers.
“This campaign will be supported by new events such as a charter yacht function in Sydney during October and will build on the successful Soirée event that was held in February this year,” commented David Good, CEO Superyacht Australia.
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