“Effects of coronavirus: the state of emergency in the market of yacht Charter” is the headline to a commentary published online by a German Yacht.
Coronavirus is not the first week in full force hits the market yacht Charter. Ship owners and agencies complain of the almost total cessation of the reservation, many existing contracts have to move or break.
The situation deteriorated as the season starts in the most popular among German customers Croatia and Majorca. In Spain, the authorities declared a state of emergency and shut down the ports until April 11 – there is hyphenation armor more than cancel. As well as in Croatia, the government of which has not yet closed the country to enter, however, upon arrival all Germans expects a two-week quarantine, making travel almost impossible.
Another serious problem is traffic. It is difficult to predict how easily customers will be able to purchase tickets at a later date. As soon as the crisis will recede, the travel market is not just alive, but begin to catch up, it is possible that tickets will be a scarce commodity.
Our edition of the daily squall of questions from readers: Can I cancel a reservation without penalty, if the foreign Ministry recommends to refrain from trips abroad? Should I make a second payment for the boat? How can I be, to transfer the holiday to another date or better to wait and see how the situation will develop with the virus?
Pandemic is a force majeure event, which complicates the legal aspect of the case. In any case, you have to be in touch with the Charter company. Most of them will be willing to move the dates of the reservation without additional fees. However some companies still reserve the right to require additional payments in connection with a possible price increase in 2021.
When massive cancellation may occur another problem: the Charter company may be simply unable to return the money in such amount. The court already launched, designated in marinas booked and paid for, as well as insurance and staff. If the crisis will take over the summer, many companies can encounter serious problems.
As we look to the future owners? Klaus Pitter of Pitter Yachting very Frank: “of course, We all hope that the season will begin in June, but to be honest, I personally rely more on August. The problem with our industry is that unlike industrial companies, we are unable to compensate for the loss of additional work after the crisis. Those weeks that we lose in the spring and early summer are really lost.”
But there is a positive Outlook. For example, it is believed that after the crisis of yachting as an individual form of tourism will gain in the eyes of customers more attractive unlike cruises where hundreds of passengers were trapped for a long time in quarantine on Board of ships.
For the market of yacht Charter the coming months will be the biggest challenge in its history. When season will start? When the ban will be removed on move? When you start to reduce the number of infections? When normal business? Can the government quickly and without bureaucracy to help with loans and grants? France had to limit the eligibility of customers to support the tourism industry. Presumably in Germany, too, there is talk of such measures. Whatever it was, but the next 2-3 months will be for many companies a true test of strength.
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