This summer vacation season, isolation was the en vogue luxury experience. Super wealthy families hoping for a lavish voyage while skipping the COVID crowds have found the perfect solution: charter a superyacht with just themselves and all the happy guests they see on deck (on the captain of the Luxury ships) and of course fully occupied crew).
And the newest hotspot that superyachts have set course for: the Aegean Sea of ​​Greece with over 220 inhabited islands on an extensive coast. Apparently, cruising the Côte d’Azur is just like that in 2019.
My Big Yacht Greek Summer
Largely spared the massive COVID spikes that hit Italy, France and Spain, the birthplace of Western philosophy opened its arms to tourists in 2021, earlier than most of its Mediterranean neighbors. As a result, foreigners have visited Greece at rates not seen since before the pandemic.
So far this year over 6 million visitors have traveled to the country. These include the passengers of 834 superyachts that have entered Greek waters. And these luxury aficionados have not only opted for a top-notch sailing experience, but they also tend to continue to spend money island hopping:
- A real superyacht (with a length of over 24 meters) can be chartered for tens of thousands of euros per week up to several million. One of the most expensive, according to the Financial Times, is the Flying Fox, a 136-meter-long floating resort that can cost 3 million euros a week.
- According to a study by the Greek Marinas Association, visitors who arrive on a superyacht, unsurprisingly, lose five times more cash than the average Greek hotel guest, and pay for everything from mooring fees to limousine service and up to 10,000 euros in cash bills.
And it’s not just the superyacht charter business that’s thriving this summer. In the first half of 2021, 344 superyachts were sold on the brokerage market – a number that far exceeds the previous years.
Croatia not counting: Greece is not the only European coastal country benefiting from the unrest after the pandemic. Eight months after 2021, overnight stays in Croatia have reached 69% of the 2019 record. Not bad for a country whose visitors are more likely to be found in sailing boats than in superyachts.