Boat rentals are booming in the Caribbean. Specifically, GetMyBoat, the largest boat rental marketplace and considered the ‘Airbnb of Boats’, has seen bookings grow threefold and listings increase 64 percent in the Caribbean in 2021, according to Val Streif, marketing manager for the Foster City, CA-headquartered company, which offers over 2,000 boating experiences online.
“GetMyBoat is a platform that connects people who want to rent boats directly with boat captains and owners. It makes the process of finding boats to rent much easier, with everything being accessible right on your phone with the mobile app. Our mission is to make the joys of boating more affordable and accessible without having to pay costly membership fees or to own a boat yourself,” says Streif.
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While most charter brokers work exclusively in high-end, luxury markets, GetMyBoat seeks to bring a huge variety of watercraft and boating options at different price points on the platform, according to Streif. The company also provides seamless technology for all aspects of the booking process, instead of relying on a concierge service to book and communicate between the renter/consumer and the boat owner/operator/captain. This offers customers a similar experience to what they expect when they book through Airbnb or Uber, i.e., full communication and browsing right on their phone. Readers can use GetMyBoat to find the ideal boat for a day trip, a weeklong vacation, or just a few hours like a sunset cocktail cruise, either ahead of time or at the last minute.
“On the boat owner/captain side, GetMyBoat takes the lowest fees in the industry, and we enable owners to work directly with us connecting them to customers, instead of going through a broker, which also keeps more money in their pocket,” says Streif. www.getmyboat.com
