Things seem to be going well in the charter business. At least for the market leader Le Boat, if you look at the figures. The houseboat provider's fleet consists of almost 1,000 boats at 18 charter bases in nine countries. The company is now investing 100 million euros in 400 new boats. 100 of these are to be delivered over the next three years, and at least 25 this year. Demand appears to be unbroken. What are the challenges and what are the company's plans?
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How would you assess the current state of the charter boat industry?
Until 2019, we saw incredible growth in the charter boat industry. Then COVID hit and we feared big losses. But actually, the charter industry and the boating industry in general has come through this crisis incredibly well because we were able to offer the perfect solution for distanced holidays at the time. So we moved boats to different locations and actually had an exceptionally strong period. We had our record year in 2022, when more and more people slowly started travelling again, but still felt uncomfortable in some cases about being around lots of people. In 2023 and 2024, growth then slowed noticeably, which was certainly due to the world reopening after the pandemic. Long-haul travel became more popular again. There was a feeling that people wanted to make up for lost travelling time.
We are now seeing that demand is picking up again in 2025; we are already further ahead with bookings at the start of the season than at the same time last year. And we expect a strong late season, as customers are no longer booking so early. And we are seeing stronger demand for short holidays. Stays of two or three nights are increasingly in demand.
Le Boat is further expanding its luxury range with the new premium model Liberty. Is this in line with your observations regarding the trend in customer demand? How will your fleet be organised in the future, from the budget to the premium segment?
In fact, we see that the premium market is struggling much less than the budget market. We will always have budget offerings in our fleet. As a rule, our boats stay in our fleet for up to 20 years. And as the boats get older, they gradually become part of our budget boat segment. We will therefore always have a large selection of boats in a wide range of categories: for two to 12 people, from one to five cabins, from a "one-star" to a "five-star" boat.
However, our aim is to make boating easier and more comfortable for everyone through innovations in boat construction. The new premium models are super easy to manoeuvre and are designed to appeal to a new target group of customers who have never been on a boat before and value comfort above all else. We want to introduce them to an alternative way of holidaying. We want our customers to feel like they are renting a floating holiday flat. This is the focus of our new developments.
What does the typical charter customer look like? Has your customer base changed in recent years?
The majority of our customers do not have a boating licence. This is also the focus of our marketing. We want to reach people who have never thought about going on holiday on a boat before. Part of our work is to familiarise these people with boating and show them how easy it can be. The boats have been built especially for us and precisely for this purpose, for people with no experience. In addition, our customers' expectations in terms of equipment have risen. With our new premium models, we want to combine luxury and easy manoeuvrability.
Le Boat is represented with 18 destinations in nine countries. Are there plans to expand your activities with new charter bases in other countries? And if so, what criteria do you use to select potential new locations?
The opening of our two locations outside Europe, in Canada, was a big and exciting step. We now have 32 boats here. The Rideau Canal and the Trent-Severn Waterway combine the best of our European waterways in one place. It really is breathtakingly beautiful there.
Personally, I would like to have a winter destination on offer in the future. However, our boats are only made for inland waters. But there are great opportunities here, not just on canals, but also on large lakes - the Mecklenburg Lake District is a great example. And we are always talking to potential new partners. We started 55 years ago with ten boats in the Canal du Midi. Today, we have around 1,000 boats spread across Europe. And now we are bringing the whole thing to North America. We are currently working with our Group Benneteau and Delphia partners in North America to open up further attractive destinations and find potential franchise partners, not only in Canada but also in the USA.
Do current geopolitical developments play a role in these considerations? And are you observing that the global political situation is having an impact on bookings?
Of course, we keep an eye on such developments and observe them with some concern. In our case, however, only around 10 per cent of our customers come from the USA and they continue to travel to Europe, so that is unlikely to change. Of course, it would be different if we already had a base in the United States and European customers might not want to travel there because of the current situation. Or if we were to export boats that were built in Europe to the USA because of the tariffs that are currently being discussed. However, neither is the case at the moment and we can only speculate on how things will develop.
Where do you see the challenges for the charter industry in the coming years?
Northern Europe is an important but also highly competitive market. A large part of our business was traditionally conducted via travel agencies, which have gradually disappeared. That is why we are always on the lookout for new sales partners. In terms of marketing, as I said, our aim is to succeed in tapping into new target groups by taking away people's fears and convincing them that anyone can go boating - and that it is a comfortable and unique way of travelling.
