A prolonged summer gives a boost to p2p boating

With Britain having enjoyed one of the hottest summers in living memory, the p2p boating industry has got a massive boost. A case in point: Click&Boat, Europe’s leading boat rental platform, reports record rental numbers.

This was a special summer for Britain: World Cup success, a Royal Wedding (in late May) and to top it all, one of the hottest summers on record, with temperatures rising up to 35°C (95°F) in parts of the country. Good weather is always a boon for the boating industry. Click&Boat, the European leader in peer-to-peer (p2p) boating, saw bookings made by UK customers increase by 436% compared to last summer. Global bookings rose this summer by 109%. The data show that bookings grew exponentially in advance of and during the heatwave in Britain from 22 June to 7 August, especially for short boating trips in Southern Europe.

P2p boating on the rise in the UK

The UK has rapidly become Click&Boat’s sixth largest market, with France, the company’s home country, on the top position. More than one out of twenty registered users on the platform are based in the UK. Edouard Gorioux, co-founder of the company, says: “Britain has a great sailing tradition and has also embraced the sharing economy, and this is reflected in our UK numbers”. The company recently raised €4m to expand its footprint into major European markets, including the UK.

British holidaymakers using Click&Boat’s platform by-and-large prefer destinations in Southern Europe for a sailing trip in the summer. Top destinations this summer included:

• Côte d’Azur, France (101% growth vs summer 2017)
• Corsica (166%)
• Balearic Islands (405%)
• Sardinia (457%)
• Campania (home to popular destinations such as Naples, Ischia and Capri)
• Croatia, especially Split, Dubrovnik and Zadar
• Greece, particularly Athens (300% growth) and Mykonos

Interestingly, an increasing number of British sailing enthusiasts opt to hire a boat in two of Britain’s most popular sailing hubs, Cowes and the Isle of Wight. Motorboats (67% of bookings) and sailboats (15%) were by far the most popular types of boats for hire. The average cost of booking for UK renters was £774 for an average period of 5 days, while prices per day varied from £69 to £10,501. “With this weather a boating trip was perfect for the family. The price was perfect too, so we just went for it,” says Patrick B., a 46-year-old hairdresser from Bristol who hired a boat in Croatia for a week in early August.

Summer is not over yet

The picture is not very different in September, as a prolonged summer in Southern Europe offers holidaymakers an opportunity to enjoy their holiday away from the crowds of tourists flocking to popular sailing destinations in August. Destinations such as Lisbon in Portugal, Altea in Spain and Antibes and Carqueiranne in France are becoming popular among British holidaymakers who hire a boat via Click&Boat in September.