Traveling Morion | Travel + Photography: GUEST POST| Independent Operator vs. Household Name

The sailing & Yachting industry, like any other sector of the Leisure Travel Market offers consumers plenty of choice whether this is flotilla sailing, bareboat charter or fully crewed charter.

For many the comfort and security of booking with a household name, owned by one of the two gigantic multinational corporations that dominate the UK travel industry is a reasoned choice. The arguments for are financial security, an assumption that they will adhere to the highest safety standards and an expectation of a reasonable quality of yacht and good service from resort staff.

These companies were generally once independent operators themselves, with a good track record. They became the target for takeover by giant multinational corporations such as TUI and Thomas Cook and many would argue that this has created a complete culture change within these companies, with the focus being on greater volumes of client traffic and larger profits which in turn can impact upon the client’s holiday experience.

Their competitors are the independent yacht charter and flotilla operators, often run by management who are themselves keen sailors, who stress that it is personal service and attention to detail that makes them stand out.

Limited finances on the other hand can often mean that these smaller companies may be running much older yacht fleets which can impact on quality. However, consumers these days can research such details easily on the internet as well as research revue sites for the views of other yacht charterers. It is therefore much easier to make an informed choice when deciding on which charter company to go with.

Leading independent sailing specialist Seafarer managing director, Chris Lorenzo commented ‘ As an independent company that carries fewer than 5000 sailing holidaymakers per year, we can proudly say that we still offer a personal service to our loyal clientele, many of whom come back year after year. On the other hand, we are large enough to offer a full range of sailing destinations, whilst our lower cost base means that we can offer a quality product at real value for money prices, invariably cheaper than the multinationals’.

Price comparisons between the larger and independent companies will usually confirm that he is right, with the independents having lower prices most of the time. So the moral of the story is check out your choices and don’t dismiss the independent companies. They will often compare favourably on quality and win hands down on price!

Seafarer offer flotilla, bareboat and cabin charter holidays in Greece, Turkey, Croatia and the BVI as well as beach club holidays in Greece and Turkey. For more details visit www.seafarersailing.co.uk

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