Pent-up demand after a year or more of pandemic sheltering in place is driving yacht charter bookings, according to NauticEd, the Austin, TX-headquartered leader in global sailing education and a global yacht charter agency. Specifically, NauticEd has reported an increase in vacation yacht bookings almost 10 times greater than 2020 and 38 percent greater than pre-COVID years. The latter figure mirrors the overall increase in U.S. travel bookings over April and May, emboldened by recent data from the Centers for Disease Control that show nearly half of the U.S. population has received at least one vaccination and are ready for adventure. NauticEd is also seeing a 30 percent increase in online course enrollments over 2020 figures.
“While I feel NauticEd’s reputation as a global sailing educator is driving our success in the Caribbean, I don’t have industry sales numbers for the region. But I believe the increase in US vaccinations and general travel industry trends will have a positive effect on yacht charter industry sales for the Caribbean,” says Grant Headifen, founder and global director of education for NauticEd. “And, if vaccination and general travel trends hold for the rest of 2021, then I think that will continue to be good for the industry. As far as which category, it’s impossible to say for the yacht charter industry as a whole, but NauticEd’s numbers regarding vacations and those wanting to learn to sail indicate that we are way ahead of pre-COVID 2019 numbers.” www.nauticed.org
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