Take a sneak peek into the crystal ball of 2024. Dream Yacht Worldwide, a leading sea-based vacation and global yacht charter company headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, USA, shared some of its forecasted trends in December.
One is that more non-sailors are interested in trying sailing as a new vacation experience, with 20% of new contacts having never sailed in 2023 versus 15% in 2022. The company believes this is partly due to greater overall awareness of yacht charters as a vacation option. Of the ‘new to sailing’ contacts that booked a charter, most were between 40 and 50 years old and traveled with a group of friends that altogether spent $5,400 on average for a week, not including taxes or extra services such as skippers, hostesses, etc. The average sailing vacation duration is a week, this ‘new to sailing’ demographic typically books in May, June, and July, and their top destinations are the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, and Mexico in the Caribbean, followed by Italy, Greece, and Croatia in the Mediterranean.
Secondly, the uptick in generational travel seen in the past few years continues to increase, with nearly 12% of surveyed charterers reporting sailing with at least three generations of family members. Destinations preferred for generational travel tend toward those offering calm waters and varied activities for all ages to enjoy together. Dream Yacht Worldwide’s top destinations for generational travel have been the British Virgin Islands, the Abacos, and Tahiti.
Looking specifically at the Caribbean, Dan Lockyer, Dream Yacht’s chief commercial officer, says “Compared to 2022 we have seen a 42% increase in inquiries for charters in St. Martin which prompted us to plan for an expansion of our fleet in that destination for 2024. We will be moving around 30 new yachts into the French West Indies in the months to come to satisfy our customers’ demand and are delighted that there is interest, especially in repeat charter guests, to explore these cruising grounds.” www.dreamyachtcharter.com
