The initiative is trying to counteract the price trend in Croatia, as family crews in particular, whose charter costs are paid out of one pocket, reached their financial limits last season. This was mainly due to price increases caused by inflation and the changeover to the euro, some of which are clearly noticeable in Croatia. The result was visible in the booking lists in 2024: there were significant booking gaps, especially during the school holiday periods in summer, which the fleet operators were only able to close to some extent with high discounts.
The German Charter Association VDC and the onlineMySea harbour booking platform therefore sought dialogue with marina operators and authorities at the end of 2024 in order to reduce costs. With success: from this season, family crews can receive a 15 per cent discount on berth bookings, national park tickets and, in a later stage, selected restaurants when booking via MySea.
All ACI marinas are included in the discount campaign
"We want to support families and are pleased to be able to make a contribution to relieving the burden on our customers with this measure," explains Christian Zaloudek, first chairman of the VDC on behalf of the 19 VDC member agencies. Discussions about the initiative began during last year's Interboot, and the first milestones have now been reached: Customers will receive the discount from 1 April to 31 October this year in all 22 marinas of the Croatian ACI chain, as well as the ports of Polisana in Pula, Marina Trogir and Nautica Novigrad. On the national park side, talks with the authorities of the Kornati National Park and others are almost complete.
The condition for the discount is that the crew list shows that parents are travelling with children, grandparents or grandchildren. At least one person in the crew must be under 22 years of age. The discount applies to monohulls up to 14 metres; cats are excluded as they are generally much more expensive than monohulls and are therefore not as attractive for crews with limited budgets. The skipper must confirm the composition of the crew when booking; two non-family members are also permitted on board as co-sailors. When booking the National Park ticket via Mysea, the discounts are deducted directly. It applies to the berth price, electricity, water or environmental costs are charged at the usual costs.
Further details on the booking processes can be found on the mySea website on the topic.
