Yachting in Greece by the trained eyes from all over the world
Condé Nast Traveler magazine mentioned 14 Greek islands as an ideal place for summer holidays in 2017. And the best way to explore the islands and new beaches with comfort and adventures is yachting of course.
We’ve asked the local fleet operators and representatives of the world charter agencies that took part in B2B conference “The International CharterMeetUp” about their expectations for the 2017 season. ICE (International Charter Expo), the only B2B yachting exhibition in the world, which annually takes place in Croatia, was held in Greece for the first time this year from March 31 to April 2.
Tourism is one of the major parts of Greek budget revenues, and yachting is considered to be an important and promising component. Thus, we’ve decided to contribute to the development of cooperation between the national boat owners and the world leaders of the yacht charter by inviting the organizers of the ICE to Athens"
The event took place as a speed-meeting conference: all participants had 10 minutes to get acquainted and to discuss the prospects for cooperation briefly. "We are interested in customers from all the brokers participating in Athens Charter MeetUp, and I hope to establish and maintain contact with brokers to further establish DREAM YACHT CHARTER and promote our business," reservations manager from Dream yacht charter in Greece Aghis Papadimitriou comments.
To all those familiar with Greek waters, the reasons for choosing this destination are obvious – safe waters, a graphic coastline and the yachting infrastructure. The combination of quality services and affordable prices, adding to this, the unique culture and reputation for hospitality make Greece extremely attractive for holidaymakers
Breaking the myths
"I think it can be very good year for Greece. As for Turkey, this year hasn’t been as good as before, so Croatia and Greece are going to take up this slack. I must say that for our clients the first place for yachting is splited between Croatia and Greece," Sam Norman from the British agency BareboatSailingHolidays shares. According to the other representatives of agencies from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, France, Poland and other countries, interest in Greece as a yachting destination has grown significantly in recent years.
Today, the top 2 destinations for sailing are Croatia and Greece, and as for me, Greece is more comfortable. Food is great, people are friendly. Croatians are a bit stubborn and closed to their clients. They often act like: "We have good weather already, what do you need more" and in Greece even when people make bad food or something is wrong with service, they act so nicely that I always leave tips.
Family business
80% of Greek fleet operators are family businesses. This gives them advantages and certain disadvantages, but the main thing is their huge potential. Anne de Vries (Tubbber) notes the average problem in the industry: "When a guest loses anchor somehow in Greece, they often cannot reach the base manager, cause that’s a family company, only one person is working on technical support, and he already has 50 calls, his wife is asking him when he’ll come home…"In Tubbber they solve this by their own powerful support, but many brokers require this kind of service from the fleet operator: "Little companies should have good service. For us, it’s the main thing. We always collect reviews from clients that we send to some charter company and then use it as a recommendation. To be on top of our list a company should have the balance between the price and quality," Jiri Zindulka (Zindulka)
Monohulls or catamarans
By all accounts, catamarans are becoming more and more popular, as well as crewed yachting. In 2017 sailing is not the leisure for lonely wolves any more, it's an excellent vacation for families and groups of friends. As a proof, The Telegraph includes Greece and its islands as being within the seven best family holiday destinations for 2017.
"We noticed that the interest for catamarans has increased this year and also people want skippered yachts. We think that it is because before yachting was reserved leisure for certain category of people and now it is open democratic market where everybody can enter with different kind of offers: bareboat monohulls are at the disposal for budget vacation and people who usually choose 5-star hotels can rent a luxury yacht with 5-star service"
World charter agencies record a growing interest in Greece as one of the key destinations for yachting this year, so they require the highest quality of services and responsibility for each client. So this year Greek fleet operators are determined to do everything possible to attract and keep tourists interest because it will give them not only a competitive advantage but also it is necessary for country economics in common. So you can expect the best service and hot prices. In addition, in 2017/18 interest in catamarans and crewed yachting will continue to grow, and Greek fleet operators have already expanded the number of these boats.
