Boat rental market is booming as renting a boat ensures a unique vacation for those who don’t own a luxury yacht. The economy of Greece is struggling to stay afloat but two entrepreneurs Antonios Fiorakis and Georgios Gatos have gone ahead and created a platform that would connect the boat owners directly with the people who want to rent a boat. The startup site called Incrediblue hopes to standardize the marine tourism industry and allow the users to take informed decisions based on key factors like price, real photos, location, availability & user reviews. The business model being followed by the startup is quite similar to Relay Rides and Airbnb who have simplified the process of renting a car and an apartment respectively.
Connects Boat Owners Directly to People Who Want to Rent
Incrediblue is matching up yacht and sailboat owners with people who want to cruise around the Mediterranean and other global seascapes. The co-founders of the site realized that the boat rental market dominated by middle men is very inefficient as the average boat owner couldn’t connect to people wanting to rent a boat. Incrediblue plans to change that and create a direct connect between the boat owner and the people wanting to rent boats. It will simplify the transaction and at the same time put more money directly in the pocket of the boat owner. The people renting the boat would also get a more reasonable deal at the same time. It is a win-win situation for both parties and hence the concept is bound to be a great success with the yachting community.
Service Will be Available in Greece, Croatia, Turkey, and Portugal
The site will be formally launched for public use next month. The process is simple; the boat owners can register and list their vessels for hire and create its individual profile listing its details and features. The owners must specify its hourly, daily or weekly price at which they would rent out their boat. Incrediblue on its part will send a professional photographer to get pictures of the ship so that it can be presented in its best light to the prospective customers. The boats will be categorized as per their type and visitors can choose as per their need and budget. You can send a reservation request directly to the owner and pay to him directly once the deal is struck. To begin with the service would become available in Greece, Croatia, Turkey, and Portugal, but Incrediblue has plans to launch in Spain and France by early next year.
Service Will Focus on Mediterranean, Followed by Miami and Caribbean
In the year 2013 the startup will be tackling only the Mediterranean sea and will focus on Miami and the Caribbean later. However, since it is on the web world anyone from anywhere can join in and list their boat. The brokers who are in the boat charter business charge at least 25 to 30% of the total cost whereas Incrediblue will be charging only 15%. The concept is solid and is already attracting venture funding from European firms. Gatos, one of the co-founders said that they are proud of the fact that they would be contributing something towards the revival of the Greek economy. There is a very wide range of boats and yachts available for charter. The simplest three cabin sailboat could cost you only $60 per day per person. The simple motorized yacht for six people normally comes for $3,000 per day. However there are super yachts that could cost you as much as $50,000 a day.
Via: wired
