If you have a love for sailing and are looking to invest in a new venture, you could combine your passion with a profitable business by offering a top-rated yacht for charter. While this would be a significant investment, if you crunch the numbers and it is doable with a partner, there’s no reason why you can’t enter the exclusive market of luxury yacht chartering.
Reasons to Charter a Yacht
If we take a look at some of the occasions when people charter luxury yachts, this will give you an insight into the market. It might be a diamond jubilee anniversary, when the lucky couple decide to combine their annual holiday with a once-in-a-lifetime experience aboard a luxury yacht cruising the Indonesian Islands, or perhaps a newlywed couple want a fabulous honeymoon. The industry is enjoying a boom, as people look for alternative holiday experiences, and with the right digital marketing, you can reach the right people and enjoy your passion at the same time.
Skipper Level Sailing
Ideally, you would skipper your own yacht and if you are not yet up to that skill level, a few months at a sailing school will have you up to skipper standard, and with a hand-picked crew, you can create a unique experience for your clients. You would be surprised at the number of searches people make for yacht charter in Phuket, which shows how popular this luxury holiday experience has become, and you will have a unique experience sailing with your clients in the Andaman Sea in search of Whale Sharks and Dolphins.
Running Costs
Obviously, maintaining a 5-star yacht is never going to be cheap, and you have no choice but to retain your crew for the entire year, yet by adding up all of your running expenses, you can calculate how many days you need to be at sea to break even. This will give you a clear guideline of how many clients you need per year to realise a profit, and if you can manage to be competitive in your pricing, this will increase your chances of success.
Digital Marketing
This is the key to a busy calendar, and you have no choice but to enlist the help of a leading digital marketing agency, one that has extensive experience in the leisure industry. They would help you to create an aggressive online marketing campaign that would make good use of all the social media platforms, plus your website needs to inspire visitors, making the best use of video, giving the user a surreal experience.
Developing your Business Plan
If you are looking for an investor or two, your business plan must withstand some serious scrutiny, so do have some professional help with that, as any potential investor would make their decision based on your plan of action.
If you have already created a few successful enterprises and are looking to up your game, setting up a yacht charter company will certainly be a challenge, but with the right approach and adequate funding, there is every reason to expect to make a return.