Yachting in Greece: Sailboat and catamaran charters up 100% last year

The growth of yachting in Greece is expected to mark a new era for the Greek tourism industry, in 2023.

Mr. Antonis Stelliatos, who was re-elected last Sunday to the presidency of the Greek Tourism Boat Owners Association (EPEST), speaking to state news agency AMNA, emphasizes that 2023 will be a very good year for our country that will have no precedent.

Yachting: Spearhead of Greek tourism

However, he observes that the biggest problem currently faced by most vessels operating in Greece is the issue of the lack of berths.

He stated that many of the boats that do not find berths in facilities that are not declared as tourist ports, are either docked in marinas or in ports that do not offer services equivalent to a marina.

He emphasizes that in 2022 the charters of sailboats and catamarans in Greece, amounting to 5,500, reached 100% by the end of November, while he added that if there is no unforeseen factor in relation to new restrictive measures for covid pandemic cases from China, Greece is dynamically entering the sector with a compettive edge.

“2023 will be a record year”, he emphasized, pointing out that the most popular destinations in 2022 were the Cyclades and the Ionian Sea which, due to the opening of the Isthmus of Corinth, offered most travelers from all over the world an unforgetable experience.

Referring to the impact on the industry from the Russian-Ukrainian war, he said that there were many cancellations of charter agreements by Russian and Ukrainian as well as American charterers, without this having an impact on the final result.

Regarding the cost of charters, Mr. Stelliatos says that chartering a catamaran in Greece at the moment costs 5,000 – 10,000 euros per week and for a sailboat from 3,500 to 4,500 euros per week, prices that do not include crew or skipper.

The problems

The president of EPEST, referring to the new law on yachting that was passed in April by Parliament, said that this specific regulation helps the growth of the sector, however, he expressed his disagreement with two specific articles of the legislative regulation (8 and 9), with which as states that vessels with a third flag are given the right to charter in Greece without having a business license and tax representation, while adding that these vessels do not pay Shipping Union and have reduced VAT.

He underlines, however, that on the other hand, for each charter agreement signed by the 5,500 Greek vessels, this goes to the tax office, the Independent Public Revenue Authority (IAEA), the port authority and the Ministry of Shipping.

Mr. Stelliatos emphasizes that the professional boat sector contributes 1.42% of GDP to the Greek economy, while he mentioned that in 2022, 30 million euros were given to NAT and 10 million euros to the National Social Security Agency (EFKA).

It is noted that the EFKA includes crews for vessels under 24 meters that do not require a log.

New Board of Directors in the Association of Greek Tourist Boat Owners

During the General Assembly of the Association of Greek Tourist Boat Owners on January 15, 2023, Mr. Antonis Stelliatos was re-elected president of the Association, while a new Board of Directors was elected. with a three-year term, from 1/2/2023 to 31/1/2026, the composition of which, after its formation in a body, is as follows: president Antonis Stelliatos, first vice president Emmanuel Stefanakis, second vice president Stavros Kyriakoulis, third vice president Diogenis Venetopoulos, general secretary Vasilios-Ilias Mavrogiannis, special secretary Panagiotis-Nicolaos Lemos, treasurer Apostolos Papadopoulos, member – honorary president Giorgos Vernikos and member Dionysios Pylarinos.

What does the president of CITESAP, Paris Loutriotis, support?
The need for the VAT rate to be adjusted to 13% from 24%, in the charters of pleasure boats without a crew, is pointed out to APE-MPE by the president of the Association of Owners of Tourist Professional Boats Without Crew (SITESAP), Paris Loutriotis, who also comes back to the issue of berth shortages.

He addeds that bareboat charters in 2022 were up 70% compared to 2019, while in 2023 he expects 100% occupancy.

Regarding the issue of berths, he claimed that after the concession of Alimos Marina to a private investor, the problem with berths in Attica became more intense. He pointed out that the management body of the particular marina will start projects from March 1 and according to the obligations 20% of the professional berths will remain while the rest will have to leave. He added that the berthing needs for commercial unmanned vessels currently amount to 2,500 while another 30 new vessels coming to Greece are expected to be added.

Tourist ports in Europe and the lack of berths in Greece

According to the figures of diaNEOSIS in Europe today there are approximately 11,000 tourist ports with approximately 1.1 million berths, with the Northern countries having as a rule more, but smaller ports than the Southern ones.

How many ports each country has is, of course, influenced by many factors, such as the shape and length of its coastline, whether it has navigable rivers, and, of course, its culture of water recreation. 38% of Danes own a pleasure boat, for example, while the corresponding figure in France is just 5%.

Also interesting and noteworthy: in all European countries except Italy, there are fewer berths than registered yachts, which raises the reasonable question: where do the rest dock? Most of the answer has to do with the fact that boats with outboard engines are only used for certain periods of the year and do not occupy berths the rest of the time (parked ashore). Again, however, the berths available in Greece cover only 41.8% of the rest of the yacht fleet. From what it seems, the rest of the boats find places in facilities that are not declared as tourist ports (more than 40 ports in Greece also serve pleasure boats, even without offering them services corresponding to a marina), or in the so-called “orphan ports” ” which are not recorded at all.

Rise of mega-yachts

The category of mega-yachts (boats over 24 meters in length) are aimed at high income people. According to the survey, for a mega-yacht of 40-60 meters in length, means spending almost 100,000 euros per week, an amount that includes charter (about half), boat supplies, crew costs and passenger costs. It is a subset of the market that is growing rapidly – there are now 8,538 mega-yachts in the world, and about 350 of them are in Greece.

Interestingly, Greece has one of the largest fleets of very large pleasure boats (more than 40 meters long) in the world. According to a related research, of the almost 4,795 such boats in the world, 407 belong to US citizens, who have the most, with the Russians following (168) and in third place we find, perhaps surprisingly, Greeks (107).