SKIPPER OCTOBER 2016 ISSUE 13

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PROMO

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chartering easy, trustworthy and possible for everyone. Boat chartering is no longer a luxury for the rich and powerful. You arrive in Malta or from abroad, download the app on your smartphone and in four clicks, you have securely booked and paid your boat rental.

hard every day talking to boat owners and explaining the benefits. It is also important to mention that clickandboat.com charges four per cent commission to boat owners on charters, this is way below any referral received from hotels or third parties that charge up to 30 per cent.

Today we have more than 112 boats in Malta and over 5,000 globally. We believe that having a portfolio of 200 boats in Malta would be the right aim. We are working towards that goal and word of mouth is doing its job. Clickandboat.com is enjoying a quadruple digit growth so the concept is right.

Last but not least, I find a solution like clickandboat.com awesome, with no more numerous phone calls, lengthy negotiations and nasty surprises on actual cost. It simply takes the hassle away for the clients and for the owner, which is, in my opinion great in every aspect.

What are the requirements to rent? Either go on our website or download the app either on App store or Google Play, browse, select the boat you want, four clicks and enjoy your day! For those who wish to drive the boat, and providing that the owner allows, you just have to produce a valid recognised nautical licence and if not, in vast majority of cases, the owner will be skippering the boat. If the owner is not available on that day, clickandboat.com can offer professional skipper services.

We have had a tremendous response from customers in terms of bookings and these are not focused on low charter prices. In fact, our first booking a few months ago was for a superyacht at €5,000 for the day. It is still early stage and we need to work with boat owners to ensure they respond to queries promptly so the conversion rate from visit to booking improves. If a boat owner does not respond to a query within 24 hours, the client will look for another boat.

What are the requirements to register a boat on clickandboat.com? The requirements are: own or operate a boat on behalf of the owner; have it CVC registered and if not, we can do this on the owner’s behalf against a fee. We also strongly recommend for the owner or operator to register for VAT. Take a nice set of appealing photos of the boat, both inside and outside, and start the free registration process on the website. It is easy and straightforward.

How are you promoting this project at an international level? The team spends a considerable amount of money and time in promoting clickandboat. com mainly on Google and social networks. Keep in mind that clickandboat.com is only two years old and online visibility, client and boat owner’s satisfaction as well as an attractive offer are the keys drivers for growth. This besides a number of marketing and PR events that we sponsor. both abroad and in Malta.

To summarise, we are very happy and we have seen some adventurous copycats launching so it seems that we have inspired some out there. We have a unique selling point, a high traffic every day on our website which for any one venturing, would take considerable amount of time and money to generate.

Another point is that we have a rating system that encourages the owner to rate the rentor and the rentor to rate the owner. By doing so, the client sees a very transparent offer. As we say to our boat owners, it is great to have a very nice boat, yet that is not sufficient. They have to make sure to offer a genuine and friendly service for a great overall customer experience.

Since launching in Malta, what feedback have you received and did you register any growth? Way above expectations is the answer! Initially we did face some sceptism from a few owners and once clearly explained, people realise that clickandboat.com is a new vector to additional exposure of their boats and to tackle markets that they do not reach today and a great and easy way to monetise their boats.

For boat owners and operators, it’s worthwhile incurring the cost of having their boat CVC registered as this would be amortised in a day or two of charters.

What kind of boats do you have on your website? To date we have a wide mix of vessels ranging from jet ski to 110ft super yacht. “An appealing offer drives demand,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, and the team is working

What are your future plans for Malta? Quite a few. We plan to generate more buzz and traffic to our website so people will come and discover the discreet pearl of the Mediterranean and rent plenty of boats, of course. We also plan to extend the existing offer, ensure that we provide the best possible service to boat rentors so they can spread the word and shout loud how amazing their experience was in Malta. We want to become the largest source of boat charter bookings in Malta – this our aim and daily obsession.

If you keep in mind that on average, an owner uses his boat roughly about 10 days per year, it becomes evident that economically it is not viable: clickandboat.com is a fantastic concept to revert that trend.

28,000

112

5,000

VISITORS

BOATS IN MALTA

BOATS GLOBALLY


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