BOATPro News caught up with Althaus CEO and partner, Marco Ramundo, to discuss the impact of the pandemic, the importance of boat shows and the company's core focus moving forwards.
What are your focuses and priorities for the next year?
Althaus dates back more than thirty years, and since the start of its existence and foundation, it has been recognised as a true boutique specialising in the sale and charter of superyachts in the Principality of Monaco. Today, the time has come to take a further step forward. We are broadening the range of our services to yacht management and expanding the geographical coverage of our business.
Are you targeting any specific territories? If so, why?
As already mentioned earlier, we will continue to heavily focus on the Principality of Monaco, our home, business headquarters and capital of European Advanced Yachting.
In addition, we will broaden our horizons towards the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, home of our reference partner Sherbiny Group. We are already present there and we will open our first office in Jeddah on the occasion of the 2023 edition of the Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Similarly, for a few weeks now we have had one of our representatives based in Dubai. We will now move to officialise our presence and communicate it to the yachting world during the Dubai Boat Show 2023.
Overall, we believe that these markets are and will be the ones driving a high level of attraction to UHNWIs. We believe this interest in this targeted portion of tourism will grow exponentially due to the extraordinary investments made by Saudi Arabia for the development of the Red Sea.
Read More/Althaus Luxury Yachting to open in Saudi Arabia following acquisitionDo you think the 2021 success of the superyacht industry will last?
By observing our clients’ actions and the overall yachting market, we have to state that there are currently no concrete slowdowns in demand for yachts. This said, we are witnessing a shift in clients with an almost complete disappearance of Russians and Ukrainians and the entry of new customers from the Middle East and Africa, not to mention the constant demand of the US and Europe.
From a European-oriented point of view, we are noticing a change in needs and expectations. In fact, we are seeing a reduction in the demand for new yachts from European customers offset by a possible growth in charter.
What has been the impact of the Russia/Ukraine crisis?
The ongoing war has not brought any direct impact on Althaus although Monaco’s Russian clientele has almost completely disappeared thereby diminishing directly related business opportunities.
Have you seen any changes in the demands of clients since the pandemic?
The pandemic has led to considering yachts not only as expensive toys but also as precious islands where you can spend peaceful moments with the people you love. In the same way, our clients have begun to give greater weight and emphasis to the quality of life and the value of time. As a result, many of them have decided to purchase a yacht or charter one during the winter or summer season, to enjoy the fruits of their labour and the love of their families and friends for longer than they did before.
Are boat shows still important to you?
Boat shows are still important moments for us because they create the ideal moment to meet our customers easily and visit many yachts of their interest in a short period of time. Furthermore, they represent the perfect occasion to meet our existing clients and organise networking events to strengthen our relationships with them.
Clearly, the yacht show is only the tip of the iceberg. In fact, Althaus carries out a great deal of preparation and analysis of the yachts for each client so that they can benefit from the technical and commercial evaluations necessary to undertake such an important purchase in a conscious way.