Pandemic Subsides, Croatian Sailing Boat Charter Business Is Ready To Revive

JAKARTA - Filling the summer vacation with sailing, along with the lifting of restrictions due to the corona virus pandemic in the past year, has become a familiar idea in Europe lately.

As restrictions in various countries began to be relaxed, international travel was allowed, summer vacations were in demand. Sailing is one way to escape the crowds in the summer.

Like in Croatia which is popular with Marina Kastela, a place where you can rent various types of boats to sail. Hit by the pandemic, boat rental companies in the area can smile, because of the hectic bookings from July to September.

Jelena Matkovic, head of bookings at Croatia Yachting said two months ago several companies like hers faced collapse due to the slump in tourism amid the pandemic.

"If we watch another year like last year, many boat owners and charter companies will have a hard time surviving," Matkovic said as he stood at a marina on Kastela Bay surrounded by dozens of sailing boats.

"However, even though May is practically gone and June is still full of uncertainty, bookings for July, August and September have greatly increased."

Yachting holidays make up a big part of Croatian tourism. In fact, the sailing ship business in this country is among the largest globally, attracting many tourists from various parts of the country.

"Croatia operates about 30 percent of the global chartered sailing vessel fleet which is up to 16 meters (52 feet) in length," said Pasko Klisovic who heads the association of charter companies.

But the industry took a major hit last year, when the coronavirus pandemic brought global leisure travel to a halt. Plunging revenues and high overhead costs, with the cost of maintaining sailing vessels reaching around 30,000 euros annually, made it difficult for the company to survive.

However, some tourists have already started arriving on the Croatian coast. Marc, a German tourist from Munich, said he was chartering a boat in Kastela Bay with a group of friends.

"Many people can't commit to a vacation and don't want to go to Croatia. We did some safety measures, we did PCR tests, some people were vaccinated and we felt safe on the boat, much safer on the boat than in the hotel or by air travel, " he said.

The epidemic situation in Croatia has steadily improved in recent weeks. The infection rate fell to around 300 new daily cases from more than 2,500 in mid-April.

Germany and Austria are the main markets, according to Croatian Tourist Agency data. But guests will be coming from all over the world including Scandinavian countries, UK, USA to Australia this summer.

"The conditions of return to the country of origin are very burdensome, when tourists decide to come or not. In this case, if we maintain a good epidemic situation, the guests will come because they will not face any restrictions on their return," Matkovi explained.