A much-discussed topic at the boot trade fair in Düsseldorf was the rapid change in the charter market. This is shifting more and more towards the online sector, and in the major YACHT reader survey, online bookings were the number one way for customers to find a boat. This probably also applies to most "classic" agencies, which are characterised by their presence at trade fairs, their business premises, their accessibility to customers and their membership of industry associations such as the VDC (Association of German Yacht Charter Companies), which guarantees good standards.
The previously very tense relationship with purely online platforms has changed fundamentally since such companies have also bought up traditional agencies such as Master Yachting, Scansail or Argos. There is no doubt that, in addition to dubious online charter platforms such as Zizoo, against which there are insolvency proceedings are ongoing and whose management is under investigation by the public prosecutor's office, are also solid providers.
Displacement through price dumping
It is difficult to deal with those who try to gain market share through aggressive price dumping by any means necessary. A start-up recently tried this: when its software registered that another agent had optioned a boat in the standard fleet programmes, the start-up's platform immediately displayed a special offer on its website. The same type of boat, the same week, the same charter base - only 10 to 20 per cent cheaper. Although the boat could no longer be optioned, as it was already booked.
The point of it all: Quite a few customers google the data on the Internet after receiving a quote from an agency. If they find a more favourable offer, they click on it. Every customer has the right to do so. However, if they now want to take the yacht they want from the cheaper provider, he cannot promise it to them because it has already been optioned by another provider. Either they wait until the option with the cheaper provider has expired, or the customer receives a similar offer from the cheaper provider. In either case, the low-cost provider has gained a new customer.
There is a long-term strategy behind such tactics. The cheaper online platform with the dumping offer gives up its entire booking margin, i.e. makes a loss on the booking. These losses are borne by risk investors for years. Ultimately, the aim is to drive the competition out of the market and make the online platform the market leader. It then dictates the margins and increases prices so that it operates profitably.
Market leadership can be expensive
However, it is doubtful that these methods will lead to market leadership. The times when online platforms such as Booking.com or Amazon were able to achieve market leadership by being technically ahead of the competition or simply being one of the first major providers online are over. Virtually all charter agencies use the same booking systems and are at a similar technical level. They can only gain an advantage through prices and the associated losses. However, this requires a lot of patience on the part of investors. The financial problems of the start-up Zizoo, which was launched seven years ago with the aim of opening up the market, prove that this does not appear to be so easy.
The first fleet operators are now fighting back by contractually prohibiting agents from passing on their margins in full.
