THIS PAGE IS A PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENT THE CARIBBEAN CHARTER INDUSTRY © 2007 ( an e-book ) ------------------------------------------------- by Stan { briefly `Exec Dir' Virgin Islands Charteryacht League O U T L I N E :- Preface Living in Paradise on a Yacht ( ALSO see SeaGypsy page ) How to make a living in the Caribbean Why live on a boat in the Caribbean Retirement How to select a boat, How big:- mono v cat, financing / debt? How to finance your charter yacht. Debt?, Charter Companies eg Moorings etc How to get the business started How long will it take How to Market your Charter Business (brokers, broker shows, web page, news letters video and DVD's) Marketing and Promotion schemes for Brokers:- -fleet charters -give-away-charter donated by 10 boats -web traffic promotion -stock articles sent out as Press Releases How to become a Yacht Charter Broker -Salesmanship Focus on special markets, where to take guests Pricing, Commissions, Competition, Base/Location Menus and provisioning Toys, kayaks, Snorkeling, Scuba, WaterSkiing, etc Seamanship, entertaining, being the host operating costs, spreadsheet, LISTS:- Charter Brokers Cruise Ship TA's,, Charter Companies Magazines, Charter Yacht Associations. Charter Yacht Boat shows Web addresses:- www.vicl.org www.antigua-charter-yacht-meeting.com http://www.bviyachtguide.com http://www.yachtchartersmagazine.com BOATSHOW:- subscribers can use this page to promote their yacht to Brokers, and can also link their page to other Internet sites. CHAT Charter people can exchange ideas, advice, business and marketing ideas, trends etc. CLASSIFIEDS BUSINESS FOR SALE CHARTER YACHT POSITIONS ETC PREFACE Living in Paradise. Living on a yacht in the Caribbean is a fantasy which most people merely dream about. It is merely a ‘dream’ to many, simply because it seems to be an impossibility. But is it? Can this dream become a ‘reality’? Yes it can ... if you create a charter yacht vacation business based in the Caribbean, you will have a self-sustaining business, on a yacht. And this can give you the freedom and finances to live in the Caribbean for the rest of your life. A charter yacht business is just one of many business possibilities in the Caribbean - many years ago, two ambitious and clever people bought a large fishing vessel, just for the engine room. They cut off most of the vessel, and then built a tug boat around the original engine room. Well, this is probably beyond the abilities and energies of most Caribbean bound retirees, yet, it is an example of 'living by your wits'; a skill you will need to improve ... Most people coming to the Caribbean will look for more ordinary jobs, such as teaching, nursing, construction, etc. How to do this, is what this book is all about. But it is also about more. It is also about the growing concern that American, British, Canadian, and European retirees have about adequacy of their financial resources, to provide a comfortable retirement. Creating a Charter Yacht business addresses this major concern, too. A L I T T L E H I S T O R Y , A L I T T L E F U T U R E The most successful marine project in the Caribbean is the CRUISE SHIP BUSINESS. They have many billions of dollars in capital; they attract millions of customers each year; and their customers repeat upto 5 times, according to recent studies. Despite these remarkable successes, the strategists in command of this industry expect even more exciting times in the immediate future - they are launching new ships that will accommodate upto 5,000 passengers each, and they supported this capital expansion with an advertising budget of $500,000,000 for 2001. Following the end of World War II, the Western World's Shipping companies (eg Cunard, P & O etc.) enjoyed a tremendous expansion in business, as a result of the high demand for passenger travel between Europe and America. This resurgence in demand was to be short-lived; it was eliminated by the acquisition of long distance jet liners by the major airlines, in the late 60's. The management of the major shipping lines made no effort to transform themselves into air transport companies, and therefore, they were universaly crippled, as major passenger carries, by this new development. However, their prospects were to be surprisingly rejuvenated in the early 70's by a TV program - T H E L O V E B O A T . This program, set aboard a new P & O cruise liner called "Pacific Princess", portrayed ordinary people, from all walks of life, enjoying a fun-filled, sophisticated vacation in the sunshine, on board a beautiful, ultra-modern vessel. This one marketing event, more than any other single factor, created the huge and successful modern cruiseship industry. And this is the single most important difference between the Cruise Ship Industry and its distant relative; its tiny cousin, The Charter Yacht Industry. This difference is that the Charter Yacht Industry has never had publicity equivalent to a "LOVE BOAT". The availability of a private yacht vacation in the Caribbean, ever since its inception, in the late 50's, has remained a virtual secret to the GENERAL PUBLIC. A private charter yacht vacation has only been offered, and only then as a highly specialized vacation, to the most obvious market - the tiny US sailing market. This strategy has ensured that the Caribbean Charter Yacht Industry would remain as a minor cottage industry, in a world of mega-giants. If it is possible to convert the Caribbean Charter yacht Industry into a mini-version of the Cruise Ship Industry, it must begin with a major, innovative, and ongoing marketing campaign whose visibility is equivalent to the "LOVE BOAT" TV program. This marketing campaign must introduce the Charter Yacht Industry to a GENERAL AUDIENCE, and it must present `chartering' as an irresitably glamorous activity, that occurs on board glitteringly beautiful new yachts, a-sail in a tropical paradise. This simple observation suggests a massive rebuilding of the Caribbean Charter Yacht Industry - if the highly successful Cruise Ship Industry is to be used as THE MODEL for a successful Charter Yacht Industry, then the yacht industry will need not only a new marketing plan, but also : - a new charter yacht - a new charter yacht `experience' - new charter yacht personel - new and expanded charter yacht salesmanship - new charter yacht salesmen - new charter yacht capital - but, most immediate of all - new charter yacht marketing * * * * * * * * * THE CARIBBEAN CHARTER INDUSTRY A MARKETING PLAN The new Marketing Plan can address several pressing needs of the Charter Yacht Industry, simultaneously. These needs are : - to awaken the interests of the broadest potential market - to awaken the interests of highly-targeted new markets - to attract the interest of new potential investors in a new type of charter yacht, - to increase demand for the existing charter yacht vacation. In order to create `visibility' the charter yacht industry must plunge into the world of the media. The print media people, and perhaps even the TV people, in order to take an interest, #must# have events to cover. The local charter yacht industry must create NEWS for them to fill their pages with. ***************************************** At the same time, the charter industry should offer the opportunity to explore the independence of owning the most pleasureable retirement business imaginable, to the thousands of retiring executives who have a `golden parachute'. This offer could be made initially, directly to the human resources department in corporate headquarters, of each major US Corporation. (eg. I B M) and inserted into their `Employee News Bulletin'. A proportion of these people would immediately become new charter clients. They could then be encouraged to invest a portion of their `golden parachute' in a brand new charter yacht. This would make a lot of sense to them, especially if the Ski Promotion event was making headlines, simultaneously. If these sophisticated retiring business people could see a parallel with the development of the successful Cruise Ship Industry, and noticed new, aggressive, imaginative marketing taking place, why would they consider investing in a hardware store in mid-America, when they could invest in a mini-cruise ship/yacht, and retire to the Caribbean ? THE NEW CARIBBEAN CHARTER YACHT This product ( the new Caribbean Charter yacht ) is already making its appearance; this new type of vessel is certainly a large catamaran, for the following reasons : - the catamaran configuration allows the perfect cockpit for entertaining. The cockpit in a mono-hull is far from ideal for entertaining and gourmet dining, even on large charter yachts. - the catamaran sails on a level keel, and so this yacht/sailing experience can be marketed to non-sailors. even the Cruise Ships are following this route with a new 850' catamaran cruise ship, for the same marketing reason. - a large catamaran can accommodate 12 guests, a far more economical number than the usual 6 guests on a mono hull. - each guest cabin can easily have the amenities, en suite, that all American and European tourists take for granted; a private toilet compartment, a hatch for ventilation, and a viewport. - the catamaran configuration allows adequate crew quarters for the the minimum necessary crew of 3 (captain, cook, hostess) - a large catamaran has sufficient speed to cover greater distances, and can therefore offer a greater variety of cruising grounds. eg. (off the beaten track Spanish Caribbean, as well as the Caribbean/urban shopping of St. Thomas, and the old Caribbean of the British Virgins Islands. This is not possible with the average 60' mono-hull charter yacht, with passengers on board. THE CARIBBEAN CHARTER EXPERIENCE Merely taking people for a `yacht-ride' in the tropics, is nolonger a sufficient chartering `product'. This may have been enough when the charter experience was being sold to sailors, who were primarily buying a sailing vacation. The General Public will want more. They will want more of #everything#. They will want more of the Tropics; they will want more experiences; they will want more consistency; they will want more service from professionals, and more `personality' in these professionals; they will want more contact with the destination. So, a charter yacht vacation will have to offer 'everything' that is available, in the Caribbean. It will have to offer : - a parachute ride, - a deep sea fishing trip, - a unique shopping excursion - a SCUBA diving experience - a photographic expedition to the highest mountain peak. - an underwater visit to a shipwreck ( eg. The Rhone ) - a private beach party, in solitude. - a raucus, unique disco party (eg. Foxy's / Pussers) - a tour of Coral World - an Atlantis submarine ride. - and, unforgetable Caribbean culinary experiences. - etc. Most of the above should be offered as `extra cost' options, as they are on Cruise Ships, and they must be offered in a startling, VIP fashion. For example, the parachute motorboat should pickup its passengers directly from the charter yacht; the charter yacht dinghy should deliver its guest directly to the Atlantis Submarine, ( ahead of the line-up ). The other events should be planned to contrast with each other, for maximum dramatic pleasure, and memorability. Ambitious plans, such as those presented here, require a strong, and professionally managed, industry association, such as the cruise ship's "Florida Caribbean CruiseShip Association", for their implementation. This industry association would have to be well financed, and should have a longterm view for marketing development, as its mandate. At the present time the Caribbean Charter Industry lacks such a comprehensive organization. { 1894 words }