The Covid-19 year 2020 was definitely the most disruptive period for tourism of all times. As recurring travel restrictions and actual lockdowns show, the yacht charter industry cannot rely on the recovery of the business in 2021. Hastily produced vaccines might not bring back the “old normality” to international travel behaviour, if the political targets are others. However, insights from the 2020 season enable us to predict future challenges and trends for the boat rental market.
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Takeaways from the Boat Rental Season 2020
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Boat rental destinations with strong local demand were the “winners” of the Covid-19 season (DE, NL and IT)
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Destinations that require air travel and/or rely mainly on foreign sailors had a low average occupancy rate (ES, GR and HR)
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The Digital Activity of Last-Minute Users experienced a massive boost compared to 2019 after country borders were re-opened in Summer 2020
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Our Data Analysis revealed, that rental companies not providing online booking (IBE), risk to lose 63% of their sales potential
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For boat rental markets with strong local demand, bookings might recover already in 2021/22. For destinations depending on forreign travellers, pre-covid turnovers are predicted for 2023 to 2024.
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Digitalization trends like Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) provide opportunities to reduce sales and support costs. Rental companies implementing such digital solutions could gain a crucial competitive advantage in their industry.
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