Luxury yacht vacations drive Boataffair to profitability

Founded in 2017 in Bellikon in Canton Aargau, Boataffair has grown steadily as a boutique yacht experience company in Switzerland and beyond. The company developed a platform where professionally managed yachts of owners with an insurance for charter can list their yachts for rent. Boataffair relies on these boats to curate travel itineraries for families, groups of friends, couples, and small teams from companies seeking unique and stimulating boating holidays. To date, the company has more than 3’000 yachts in its inventory and is a member of the International Yacht Brokers Association (IYBA) and the only Swiss member of the renowned Charter Yacht Broker Association (CYBA).

Clients can book the crewed yacht experiences directly via Boataffair, either selecting from the provided itineraries or curating their own. The travel industry is a dynamic market that requires constant adaptation from service providers. The startup has benefited from the increased demand for safe and private adventures on the sea amid the pandemic, which has boosted its growth. The startup has continued to expand its offerings, covering more than 60 destinations worldwide.

In the B2B segment, Boataffair partners with travel agencies worldwide to access a broader audience seeking unique travel experiences. Among its 120+ partners are Kuoni, Carrier, a UK-based luxury travel agency, DER Touristik Deutschland, and US-based Fourty4 Concierge. Thanks to the continued customer trust, the startup recorded a high increase in transactions from booked experiences via its platform and its partners, a testimony to its business model.

These growing activities have resulted in over seven-figure revenues, representing around 210 percent revenue growth year-on-year in the past two years and about 140% alone in January 2024 compared to January 2023. The company is now profitable. “We are positive that we will see this growth will persist. We are already getting a high volume of orders these past weeks for the 2024 season,” said Adrian Walker, Founder and CEO of Boataffair.

Boataffair is a bootstrapped company that has grown its team to 10 employees distributed across its offices in Asia, Brazil, the UK, and Switzerland. The company is currently hiring more people globally.

(Ritah Ayebare Nyakato)