Do you want to know which were the average bareboat yacht charter prices in Europe since 2009? Are you curious how much charter prices depend on the age of a charter yacht? These and more questions related to boat charters in the Mediterranean are answered in this article. The presented values are calculated from 200.000+ charter orders done via YachtSys for major charter destinations during the last 7 years.
1. Where to pay how much for a yacht charter week?
We averaged all charter week prices of sail boats in whole Europe by country and plotted them on the map below.
The graphic clearly shows that the highest average prices for boat rentals are paid in the Western Mediterranean. For sailing in the Balearics, the customers are prepared to pay the highest charter prices. Also the Italian and French Coast are relatively pricey compared to the rest of Europe. The cheapest charter destinations south of the Alps are Croatia, Greece and Turkey.
The North European Countries like Germany and Netherlands offer generally lower charter week prices. But it should not be forgotten, that the rented boats in North European Waters are tendencially smaller and mostly older. Popular houseboat rentals are much more economic than sailing yachts. Their share in the rental market lowered the average week prices. The rental prices in the Swedish archipelagos near Gothenburg and Stcokholm are a bit higher than in the German Baltic Sea. This can be explained that the season is very short, so boat owners have to make the same revenue by charging higher week prices.
It should not be deducted from this graphic that the charter business in the Western Mediterranean is more profitable due to higher revenues. The costs for marina berths and maintenance services are the highest in Europe, which explains the higher prices for rentals.
2. Are week prices for bareboat charters rising?
This is an often heard question when boat owners and charter companies discuss about amortization of boat charter: Which charter price increase can be the base for setting up a business plan? The following bar chart displays the averaged charter prices for sailing yachts in Europe since 2008.
During the last 7 years, the average charter week price raised from 2229 EUR to 2557 EUR. This is an increase of 15%. Therefore an average charter price raise of 2% per year can be deducted. The biggest jump from 2300 to more than 2400 EUR within one year happened from 2010 to 2011. We believe that in 2011, the hardest impact of the financial crisis was over and charter providers were confident to increase the prices again.
3. What is the charter week price difference between a small and a big sailing yacht?
Nobody puts into question that chartering a bigger boat is more expensive than a small one. The graphic below shows that the reality follows this expected general trend. But there are anomalies that are worth to have a look at.
Small two cabin sailboats can be rented for an average week price of 1,455 EUR.
The three cabin boats were divided in a smaller 9 – 12 m division (1,828 EUR per week) and a bigger 12 – 15 m division (2,274 EUR per week). A charter with of the bigger three cabin division, is around 25% more expensive, This bigger 3 cabin division is also called „Owner Version”, because those yachts have a spacious and comfortable owner cabin in the front (mostly with ensuite bathroom) instead of two separate front cabins.
A four cabin charter sailboat in the division 12 – 15 m ranges around 2,778 EUR. So far so good. But what is this? The four cabin version (15 – 20 m) with an average charter price of 4,274 EUR is even 12% more expensive than the five cabin (3,802 EUR) version in the same lenght division? Yes, that is confirmed! The evaluated prices are taken from real charter orders, so we are sure that they are correct and statistically significant. So sailboat boat owners in the 15 – 20 m divison get a higher weekly charter price for a four cabin than a five cabin version. The reason for this can only be explained that the demand for four cabin version boats is higher than the offer, which results in a higher charter week price.
4. Which week price reduction you should expect while your charter boat gets older?
5. How much is the yacht charter price depending on the order date?
6. How much differ the season prices of bareboat sailing yachts?
7. Which destinations offer the highest price reduction?
8. Which charter months have the highest discount?
Conclusion – What we have learned
- In 2015 a bareboat charter week in Europe was sold for an average of 2,600 €.
- Week prices are highest in the Western Mediterranean (3,100 €).
- Since 2008 charter prices rose nearly 2% p.a. – summed up to 15% until 2015.
- 2 cabin sailboat rentals are around 30% of a 4 –5 cabin sailing yacht charter.
- Older yachts (4-10 years) still achieve charter prices of 87% from new boats.
- Bookings done in autumn and winter are generally 10% cheaper than in spring.
- Charter price difference between high and low season reaches 40%.
- Highest discounts are generally offered for the Southeastern Mediterranean.
- Variation of overall discounts throughout the seasons is very small.
Source: http://www.yachtsys.com/Average-Charter-Prices-and-Discounts-for-Bareboat.html