Everyone asks us how the summer went and what is going on in the charter market these days, so here are our views on the market and and a few of our expectations for the remainder of the year.
About midway through July, demand for Mediterranean charters picked up dramatically – last minute charters came out of the woodwork and we’ve been inundated ever since. Anecdotal stories from other industries such as villa rentals generally say that same thing. People wanted deals, but in the end they still wanted a great holiday, despite the recession.
We believe that there is much more confidence amongst charterers, and that this will continue into the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Asia/Pacific high seasons from December through April. We’ve seen our traffic and enquiries accelerate (more than double from last September when the world was falling apart) and our operators in the Caribbean say that Christmas and New Years availability is becoming scarce. If you’re planning a charter during this peak period in the Caribbean, especially the BVI, then best to contact Boatbookings.com soon to discuss the boats that are remaining (we’ve created a nice listing of BVI Yacht Charter Availability here. Unfortunately, with the rebound in the economy, the possibility of “deals” during this peak period is dramatically diminished.
We’ve also seen a significant pick-up in demand for the Indian Ocean – especially in the Seychelles and Maldives. Because these are longer haul destinations, they seem to be picking up a bit more slowly, so there is still good availability, but if the current trend continues we wouldn’t recommend waiting until the last minute and looking for deals, or you may be disappointed.
Thailand got hit with a double whammy at the end of 2008. Just as the world economy was falling apart, the Bangkok international airport was closed by political protesters, heavily impacting the tourism sector in general. This lead to much lower demand in the first half of 2009, and some amazing charter deals being available to counteract all the bad publicity.
But just as our Asia Charter Manager was starting to wonder if the world was still in love with Thailand, July/August has seen a dramatic rise in enquiries and bookings for Thailand charters. As Europeans return from their summer vacations, we expect this increase in demand to continue. In fact, like every year, most cats are already booked up many months in advance for the peak periods of Christmas and New Year in Phuket.
As for the Mediterranean next summer – it’s anybody’s guess, but we certainly expect that next summer will be significantly stronger than this year, so don’t expect the type of deals that we were seeing this year. It may sound self serving, but the best way to guarantee the current prices and get a bit of a discount as well is to get an early booking discount – which generally means booking your summer charter before the end of the year.
Our charter consultants know so much about the area, we decided to do an ongoing series of expert advice about key things to know, what to do, and trends in the regions. We start with an interview with Peter Piper, the original Charter Consultant at Boatbookings.com, who has relocated to Mauritius (someone has to do it) to cover the Indian Ocean. Here are his comments:
What are the main destinations?
There are a few great new motor yachts starting to appear in the Indian Ocean. We have two beautiful new 
Like everywhere in the Indian Ocean, diving, snorkelling, and just plain relaxing are the major activities there. Plus of course island hopping. That’s why we recommend it for a honeymoon – you couldn’t imagine a better place for a relaxed honeymoon in a romantic island setting, with your view changing every day. We have a number of boats that specialise in pampering you during a first, second or third honeymoon! See our 
If you would like to know more about these areas, you can contact Peter at 
However, we’ve already seen a pickup in yacht charter enquiries for 2010 for both of these events. The financial situation has stabilised, and many people are realising that the 
Event and Celebration Boats. In the past, we’ve had to turn away many groups that had more than 12 people because, due to Maritime Law and insurance reasons, there are very few yachts on the Riviera that are qualified to carry more then 12 people. The good news this summer is that we have several fantastic Event Catamarans that carry up to 56 people! They are reasonably priced, designed with groups in mind, and are happy to add catering, DJs, water sports, etc. So if you have a business meeting, birthday, wedding reception, stag party, team building event or any other reason to put a large number of people on a boat, we now have several great alternatives for you (we of course also offer motor yachts that carry up to 150 people if that’s what you’re looking for!).