Spanish yacht rental firm looks to tap into Russia's growing charter market

Spanish yacht booking service Nautal is expanding into the Rusian market by launching its own service for yacht rentals in the country.

Demand for boat and yacht rentals in Russia has been increasing in recent years – 2018 proved a record for spending by local citizens on boat rental, with the value of total bookings amounting to almost RUB 15bn (US$250m).

According to analysts’ predictions, these figures will continue to grow, as more and more families in Russia take to the water on their vacations.

Director general of Russia’s leading tour operator Dolphin, Sergei Romashkin, says that at present up to 100,000 Russians go abroad for yachting holidays annually, with the average cost of a week trip on a rented yacht estimated at €5,000-€7,000.

According to an official spokesman of Nautal Russia, the current growth of Russia’s yacht rental market is part of a global trend. However, executive director of the Russian Yacht Union, Sergei Gmyra, says the uptake of rental in Russia is particularly high, despite a lack of official, accurate statistics. 

Gmyra says that the cost of renting a standard 12m sailboat is declining by 3-5% each year, making them increasingly affordable as private individuals look to rent out their own yachts and more specilist companies enter the market.