BOATPro Monthly Digest - March Edition

Welcome to the all-new BOATPro Monthly Digest, offering all the latest news and insights from the world of superyachting in a convenient bite-sized package.??

Found exclusively on LinkedIn, this monthly news recap is based on insight from BOAT International‘s award-winning superyacht market intelligence platform, BOATPro.

Interested in learning more about BOATPro? Book a demo here. ?

Charter special: Key markets, new trends and emerging destinations

Armed with exclusive data from the world's biggest yachting association, BOATPro's new charter report finds that the market has been growing exponentially, with bookings up 138% between 2015 and 2023. That growth has affected all facets of the business, from new cruising grounds to different types of toys and amenities to suit a wider array of charter guests. In addition, BOATPro reached out to experts from a dozen brokerages, who offered their insights on the true state of the charter industry. Click here to discover the results.?

Interview: The man behind North America’s largest superyacht development

For superyachts measuring in excess of 80 metres, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find suitable berths throughout the US and Caribbean region. The shortage has attracted the attention of several commercial developers in the area, such as Ra’anan Ben-Zur, who is in the midst of developing a dedicated superyacht marina on the southern tip of the Bahamian island of Abaco. The project, known as Habacoa ,?will supply 150 slips ranging up to 210 metres in length – 14 of which are for yachts 80 metres and above. BOATPro speaks with Ben-Zur to learn why the region has been so slow to develop projects of this scale and how Habacoa will hold its own against projects such as NEOM.

Read the full interview here.

Watch: The state of the superyacht market reported during the Superyacht Design Festival 2024

Presented during this year’s Superyacht Design Festival in Kitzbühel, BOAT’s Editor-in-Chief, Stewart Campbell , shared how this year’s Global Order Book figures stacked up against previous years. Based on exclusive BOATPro data, Campbell revealed there was a 3.1% decrease in the total number of projects ordered or in build, but that this may not tell the whole story. He went on to explain that the dip in total combined metres under construction was milder, dropping by just 1.2% and the decline in gross tonnage is milder still, down by 0.5%. In other words, the industry is building slightly fewer boats, but the ones underway are longer and more voluminous.

Learn more insights from the full presentation here.

Industry movements

There has been plenty of superyacht coverage in the news recently,?as the industry continues to grapple with the effects of international sanctions on Russian-owned assets. Take a look at three?incidences?from this past month by clicking the images below.

US Justice Department calls for auction of 106m yacht Amadea amid "excessive" maintenance costs

Bank fraud charges announced in connection to Russian-owned superyacht Tango

58m arrested superyacht Phi loses detention appeal in UK

Brokerage spotlight: Victorious leads new wave of high-value yachts to market in February

According to?BOATPro , a surge of high-value items sent the total value of new brokerage listings in February to €687.5 million, up 132.4% from last month's value of €295.8 million. Click here to read the full report.

Expert insight: Joff Beckett of Burgess on what to expect in 2024

Joff Beckett, the force at the helm of one of the industry's biggest brokerage firms - Burgess , tells BOATPro the secret to developing client relationships, and how he has seen client tastes evolve in recent years...

“[When] I’m going into a first meeting with a client, I don’t have any intention of selling a boat. We’re in it for the long term, and it's got nothing to do with boats, at the end of the day. It's about the relationship.”

Read the full interview here .