March 7, 2011
In the middle of charter season, with the Easter holidays still eight weeks away, we were curious to learn how much the crew on a charter vessel is involved in the process of booking charters.
So we asked. Nearly 50 charter captains replied to our survey, giving us a feel for vessels from less than 80 feet to more than 160 feet.
Who obtains the most charters for your yacht?
Far and away, the majority (52.2 percent) is charter brokers as a whole. We interpret that to mean that it’s not only the personal broker working with a vessel, but all brokers looking for the perfect fit for their clients.
Among all respondents, just 20 percent said it was a specific charter broker who booked the bulk of their charters. More than a quarter had other thoughts.
“We have always used a primary brokerage house, but use every and any means to get our program in front of prospective clients,” said a captain who has run charter yachts from 141-160 feet.
“We have referrals, repeats and happy brokers who book us because they are sure of our performance,” said a captain who runs a charter yacht between 121-140 feet.
“The owner gets a lot of charters through his network of friends,” said the captain of a charter yacht less than 100 feet.
When we crunched those numbers a bit by size, we discovered an interesting phenomenon. Among vessels from 80-100 feet, the majority (57.1 percent) said a specific broker booked most of their charters, nearly triple the results from all charter captains as a whole.
The interesting thing is that the trend didn’t hold up for vessels less than 80 feet, which -- like most vessels -- credit charter brokers as a whole for booking most charters.
So if brokers book at least a half of all charters, where do captains and crew come in? Are captains expected to work on booking charters?
Nearly three-quarters said yes. The larger the vessel gets, the less likely the captain is expected to book charters. Among vessels 140 feet and above, just a third of captains do so.
“Chartering should be a great way to offset expenses for the owner, and lucrative for the crew,” said a captain on a charter yacht of 121-140 feet. “If the owner is pretending that the yacht is too expensive to maintain unless the crew get charters, I would recommend finding another boat to work on.”
For those captains who are expected to book charters, we were curious to learn who expects this of you?
The responses were evenly split between the owner and the captain him/herself. Only one captain said the charter company expected him to book charters.
“Always go over and above what is expected by the guests,” said a captain who has run charter yachts of 141-160 feet. “Repeat business is the best advertising.”
For those captains who do book charters for their vessels, we wondered are you compensated for it?
Again, the answers were almost evenly split between “yes, the boss gives me a bonus (47.7 percent) and “no, it's part of my job” (52.3 percent).
“Make sure you get the owner to agree to blocks of time when he does not want to use the yacht,” said the charter captain on a yacht larger than 160 feet who is not compensated for booking charters. “The most unreliable part of the owner-broker-crew-client chain is the owner.”
In an effort to help the charter business along, we asked captains Do you contact previous guests?
Three-quarters of captains say they reach out to previous charter guests and invite them to return, even many who aren’t compensated for it.
As for marketing, we were curious how many captains out there are involved in things such as web sites, brochures and the like. Does the yacht have a Web site?
The largest group of yachts (almost half) have a Web page with the charter company. Nearly a third has its own Web site. A full 20 percent don’t promote their charter vessel on the Internet.
Among those yachts with a Web presence, we wondered how active the charter crew is in that. If the yacht has a Web site, who updates it?
Half of the sites are updates by someone with the charter company the yacht is registered with. Nearly a third of sites are maintained by the company the yacht hired to create the site. In just 17.6 percent of cases do the crew maintain the Web site.
In addition to the brokers and the Web, the only other charter marketing component we asked about were boat shows. How valuable are charter shows in selling your vessel for charter?
Nearly half said they are valuable, but not crucial. The surprise here was that a full third don’t attend charter shows.
“I attended, at my own expense, the show in Genoa charter show last April/May looking for work as a commercially licensed captain with U.S. and Caribbean charter experience,” said a captain on charter yachts less than 80 feet who doesn’t find shows valuable. “I was surprised that the show consisted of mainly vessels larger than 120 feet with only two yachts in my size category exhibited. Although I wouldn't have expected to see the smaller, U.S.-flagged vessels over there, I was surprised that there was no representation from European charter yachts in the smaller category.”
Only one charter vessel said boat shows are the most important marketing tool it has.
“We have superb food, great service and a great boat, but as a relatively small boat (less than 100 feet) have to be careful not to oversell,” said the captain of a charter vessel that does not attend charter shows. “Some guests have come aboard expecting cruise ship service and amenities."
With those marketing numbers sort of mid-range, we were surprised at the response to this question: Do you feel there is much competition in your sector of the charter industry?
Overwhelmingly, charter captains said yes (84.8 percent).
We crunched these numbers further to see if size played a factor here, but it didn’t. Pretty much everyone agrees there’s a lot of competition in the charter market.
“It is a hugely competitive market out there with so many yachts now reducing prices,” said a charter captain on a vessel of 141-160 feet. “It was so bad last year we lost most of the season to rock-bottom pricing and also newer yachts new to the market wanting a chunk. This year (for the upcoming summer Med season) I have booked already a week and a half, but also lost a week from my repeat clients who chartered for the past seven years. We’re getting some good enquiries coming through, though. Let’s hope they come off.”
For some tips from captains on how to book charters, click here.
We conduct our monthly surveys online. All captains and crew members are welcome to participate. If you haven’t been invited to take our surveys and would like to be, simply create a login for yourself on our site, www.the-triton.com.
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