Covid ‘massively boosted’ yacht sales – now some of these boats are back on the market

Some pandemic-era yacht owners are heading back to dry land.

Richard Allen, chief operating officer of Hong Kong-based yachting company Simpson Marine, said the pandemic had “massively increased” yacht sales.

“We’ve seen a lot of people who have had boats for two years now want to sail,” he told CNBC. “In the last maybe a few months, talking with other people in the industry, we’ve seen brokerage activity … boats are being sold.”

That was expected, said Paolo Cassani, CEO of Monaco-based yachting company Kemper & Nicholson.

“We sold more than twice as many yachts as an industry worldwide. [in 2021] than in 2019,” he told CNBC. When that happens, “they go to market a few years later.”

Cassani said enthusiasm for yachting remains, even if sales decline from 2021.

He said the industry is going back in 2019. “And we have to differentiate between brokerage and new construction, because demand for new construction is still quite high.”

With more boats coming to the brokerage market, prices are lower, though slightly below pandemic-era highs, he said.

“The prices are still quite high,” he said. “There is still a gap between demand and supply … but we believe there will still be a reduction during 2024.”

Some yacht buyers in Asia aren’t selling, though, Allen said — in fact, they’re trading up for larger vessels.

“Some have actually enjoyed the boating lifestyle, and they’re already upgrading … to bigger boats,” he said.

Asia – a continent of growing wealth and numerous island nations, many of which bathe in year-round heat – has long been seen as the next frontier for global yachting development.

Cassani and Allen, who spoke to CNBC while attending the second annual Singapore Yachting Festival on April 26, agreed that the continent’s yachting market is growing.

But, Cassani said, the pace is “lower than expected” for a number of reasons, including culture, lifestyle and lack of infrastructure.

“But we still believe there is a lot of potential in Asia,” he said.

Allen said different and strict “regulations” in the region were holding back growth.

“We need to make it easier for boats to move between regions,” he said. “In one country you might be able to run a certain size boat, but then in another you can’t. So things like that – red tape, shall we say.”

Complicated visa requirements for foreign boat crews are problematic, as are high import taxes, which can reach 40 percent in some markets, he said.

“We need to do a lot of lobbying with governments to make it easier to import boats,” Allen said. “There are a lot of lobbying groups like ICOMIA … that are working with different dealers to get a voice to the government.”

The International Council of Marine Industry Associations, or ICOMIA for short, hosted a two-day conference ahead of the Singapore Yachting Festival to address issues facing the industry, from sustainable propulsion to high-potential countries like Indonesia. to the lack of marina infrastructure. , Philippines and Vietnam.

Simpson Marine estimates that the global marine leisure market will reach an estimated $46.5 billion in 2027 – which it says will tap into the local economy through job creation and tourism revenue.

“The yachting industry employs thousands and thousands of people building boats, supporting boats, servicing all the components,” Allen said. “It’s a great industry for a . . . countries.”

New forms of ownership make yachting less expensive, opening up the industry to more people. A model that is particularly popular in Australia is fractional, or syndicated, ownership, where owners buy a share of the yacht.

Others are eschewing ownership altogether, opting for flexible subscription models, which are now the norm for many forms of entertainment, from music to television.

“We’ve seen massive growth in boat clubs,” Allen said. “It’s a bit like joining a gym or a golf club. You pay a monthly membership, and you get to use the boat so many days a week. And it’s very popular with people who really want all the hassles of ownership. Don’t want a boat.”