Most of us who have anything to do with pleasure boats wonder what the market for boats will look like in the future. And where does it go from here? Do pleasure boats have a future? Will the trend of owning and selling boats be a bigger market or will it suffocate like many luxury goods due to the rollercoaster of the world economy? What will happen in particular in Asia? Asia is the largest part of the world economy, what role will it play in the shipping industry? Which country will be the main market? China, India, Indonesia perhaps? It is important to highlight what steps must be taken today to create a better market in these countries for the future.
In Hong Kong we are realizing the obvious saturation of the boating market and almost all the boat dealers and manufacturers are pointing towards China. Many European manufacturers are also targeting India. Making these 2 countries the largest potential navigation markets.
Let’s first talk about China and realize that in 2005 we had high hopes for the boating business in China, we think that the boating industry will be huge by 2010. Well, we are in 2010 now and China clearly has not been. recovered. that level of prediction, so the market is still slower than many industry experts had predicted 4-5 years ago. The reason behind this is China’s rules and regulations in the pleasure craft industry. The rules on taxes and licenses are very unclear in China. In fact, the rules are different for different states in China. Mainly for new boats, the tax is approximately 40% of the value of the boat.
However, the infrastructure is simply fantastic, the development of marinas in China is at the best speed one can hope for. But what’s missing from this picture is the number of pleasure boats floating in China’s waters. There are definitely buyers for a high-end expensive yacht, but the support and maintenance of that yacht is not yet expert, it is uncomfortable and therefore expensive. In any country, even Hong Kong, people are willing to shell out a substantial amount of money to own a luxury yacht, but what they are not willing to do is spend too much time and spend too much on maintenance. Another thing that people are not willing to do is, of course, pay taxes and go through a lengthy government procedure to acquire a license. However, this problem has been addressed by sports clubs in China. Few clubs today help provide the necessary licenses for their members who are willing to pay the cost of such a service. Another way to handle this problem is for buyers from China to simply maintain and use their ships in Hong Kong. Obviously this will crowd Hong Kong marinas and won’t do much to boost sales in China.
One way to overcome this problem, in order to create better regulations in the future for pleasure boats in China, is for Hong Kong brokers to sell more good quality and low priced used boats in China. If we are to stop looking for clients only for high-end yachts worth many millions of euros and direct more marketing towards the younger and more moderately affluent clientele, it will create many more pleasure boats in the waters of China. The market will respond very positively. The 2010 Forbes list confirms that there are 64 billionaires in China, making it No. 2 on the list of billionaires. However, it should be noted that there are more than 900,000 people whose net worth is more than RMB 10 million (USD 1.3 million). Most of these people are under the age of 39. And even a larger and younger population that drops to 5 million RMB.
There are definitely more people who are willing to spend a little initially to try a boating adventure. We must bear in mind that the sailing lifestyle is not very common in China yet. Therefore, importance should be given to bringing more ships to China, which are not very expensive and of good quality.
This same concept will fill the marinas, forcing the administration to grow and will also provide worthy opportunities for shipyards and engineers to work in this sector.
This will also force the government to consider creating manageable regulations in terms of licenses and taxes for pleasure yachts, and if the growth of this concept is healthy, it will undoubtedly create a much friendlier and hassle-free market for the very rich buy the high. final yachts. In any case, China will have a great shipping market, but doing it sooner rather than later depends on our actions today.
India! Let’s talk about India.
One of the biggest advantages that India has is that the Indian mindset and way of life is very much in line with the Western way of life. India adapts and accepts Western ideas, culture and products very easily. A large number of the Indian population speak English. In India, almost everyone will understand you if you speak English. If you are a non-Indian company, you can easily find an educated workforce in India. It is also easy to set up a shipyard and train workers in a specialized industry in India due to the language skills of India and the good educational level of the population. India has been a British colony for over 150 years and the country’s rules and regulations remain similar to Great Britain in many respects. Another advantage to growing the navigation market in India is the experience of the Indian advertising and media professionals in terms of marketing.
India’s GDP growth is currently 7.2%, it is ranked number 5 on the billionaires list and India currently has approximately 200,000 millionaires with a net worth of between 1 and 10 million US dollars, and a population very older than people who are worth a little less. India’s upper-middle-class population is expected to grow about 10 times in the next 10 to 15 years.
But here are the setbacks! India’s political system is in chaos, corruption exists in many sectors and things become ineffective, especially if you want to start a new industry. An example of inefficiency in India is that to start a private company there are around 13 different legal procedures one has to take and the time frame takes a minimum of 30 days. While in Hong Kong, this same procedure is performed with high efficiency in less than 45 minutes.
One of the main concerns is that the growth of infrastructure in India is incredibly slow. Due to their own democracy and differences in political groups, it is difficult to start any kind of infrastructure. The marina that was to be built more than 5 years ago in South India is not ready yet. Therefore, the speed of development of the marinas and also the developments is much slower than they could have been, if the political system were more robust. Of course, the main problem remains that Indian boat owners keep their boats. Because currently there are no marinas with standard berthing facilities in India.
A good point again, being the largest democracy in the world, the rules and regulations are flexible in India, and with its positive points, if the luxury boat business gets off to a good start, such as having few functioning marinas and a small number of boats to start with, the Indian boat market will experience faster growth than the Chinese boating market.
Boat dealers and dealers in India should also convey a message that boats are not just for the super rich and make them look more affordable and common in their marketing strategy, and to start this, the cheapest boats and of good quality should float. in water. More motor boat rental companies can also boost the industry at this early stage.
I am also sure that it will not be long until I can navigate the beautiful waters of India and China on a private yacht safely and easily. Wait for that day.
For now enjoy Cruising
Loose sartape
