Australia set to welcome more yachts - for charters & with a new marina development on the Gold Coast in time for the America's Cup!
21 Jul 2020 Queensland / New South Wales / Tasmania / Victoria / Western Australia / Northern Territory / Australia / Australia & New Zealand
With no international travel on the horizon for some time to come, Australians are looking into alternatives to ‘holiday at home’ in 2020.
Current restrictions present the Australian domestic superyacht industry with a huge opportunity to increase market penetration in Australia for term charters. This opportunity is further enhanced by the international cruise industry also being unable to operate in this current climate.
According to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), in 2018, 1.35 million Australians went on a cruise, representing over 5% of the total population. Comparatively, 3.7% of the USA’s population took a cruise and 3% of the UK’s population. The USA has been the longstanding leader in cruise market penetration for many years until Australia took over in 2013.
Regular cruise passengers, due to the affect COVID-19 has had on tourism industries, are unable to take their annual journeys. A strong option for these passengers, is to reconsider their norm and get on board an Australian based charter vessel for the ultimate luxury cruising experience. Many term charters on superyachts in Australia can offer all-inclusive packages so that they are more easily compared to high end cruise marketing. These high-end cruise passengers regularly pay in excess of $50,000 per person and frequently treat their extended family of 8-12 members to a cruise. Once these customers experience the exceptional service from an attentive crew and an itinerary completely dedicated to them, we hope they then progress into larger yachts. More experienced charterers will then realise the benefits of moving from all-inclusive to the normal Advance Provisioning Allowance (APA) model.
Australians spend around $65 billion annually on overseas holidays, and with travel off the cards for the foreseeable future, travellers are starting to think about how to enjoy what Australia has to offer. Converting just 1% of top end Australian cruise passengers equates to 13,500 new superyacht guests chartering vessels available in Australia.
Australia is home to some of the most spectacular coastal and aquatic attractions in the world, as well as the largest domestic fleet of superyachts available for charter in the Asia Pacific region.
The majority of these vessels are based in New South Wales and Queensland, but vessels will regularly conduct charters through Western Australia, Northern Territory, Victoria and Tasmania. This coupled with the new Special Recreational Vessel Act that became law in December 2019 allowing foreign superyachts to also enter Australia for charter will help stimulate this potential large influx of new charter clients.
With some domestic travel in Australia now open, potentially followed by the South Pacific later in the year for Australians, both regions offer very attractive itineraries for charter guests to enjoy.
Superyacht Australia are fully supportive, " We will coordinate a promotional campaign through a cross section of channels. Our objective will be to convert these potential customers into new clients for our member vessels such as M/Y Oneworld, M/Y Silent World, M/Y Spirit and M/Y Dreamtime as well as for our charter brokers. This campaign will be supported by new events such as a charter yacht function in Sydney during October and build on the successful Soirée event that was held in February this year ”, commented David Good, CEO Superyacht Australia.
New Marina for the Gold Coast
The Gold Coast is to get Australia’s largest superyacht berthing facility operating in time for next year’s America’s Cup in New Zealand!
State Development Minister Kate Jones has announced the $9 million project was the first initiative to be backed through the $25 million 'Growing Tourism Infrastructure' fund for shovel-ready projects as part of an economic recovery strategy.
Ms Jones said the facility at Southport Yacht Club would have the capacity to handle superyachts as large as 135m, or multiple smaller vessels.
Either one longer vessel or two of 80m in length could be refuelled and repaired at the facility, which will pump an estimated $20 million into the economy annually.
The Minister revealed the facility would create around 30 jobs during construction.
Once planning approvals are ticked off, construction could start as soon as the end of July 2020 and be completed by December.
Superyachts headed south to the Cup could visit here first.
“This will be delivered in time for the America’s Cup in New Zealand in March 2021,” a government insider said. “Currently, 150 superyachts are already booked and they will all be floating past.”
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