Gulf Craft Inc., the largest builder of luxury yachts as well as fiberglass yachts in the Middle East and Asia, makes its premier at the Hainan Rendez-Vous Show 2012, China’s leading luxury lifestyle event, centered around the country’s only yacht show.
Majesty 70 Yacht running
With a long-standing presence in Asia of over 20 years, Gulf Craft expects to leverage its strong understanding of yacht usage and operation in Asia, superior ability to deliver semi-customised craft and 100% track record to an audience of ultra high net worth Chinese consumers who are increasingly finding their way to the water.
“In terms of the luxury market, China represents the future for global luxury brands. The Chinese view the consumption of luxury goods within a lifestyle context which is exactly what makes Hainan Rendez-Vous such a successful show, and why we chose to be here this year. The Chinese yacht market is a nascent market but the best way to introduce yachting to a luxury consumer in China is in a luxury lifestyle context,” said Erwin Bamps, COO for Gulf Craft.
Gulf Craft will join a collection of high-profile brands from the corporate jet, luxury automobile, real estate, fine art, fashion, jewellery and lifestyle arena including Chopard, Rolls-Royce, Bombardier and Bugatti during the four-day event taking place on the Riveira-like shores of Sanya, Hainan Province from April 5th -8th. The annual event draws thousands of China’s UHNWIs keen on high-level networking and big ticket purchases.
Gulf Craft will showcase one of its latest yacht designs – the motor yacht Majesty 70 – at the show. “The market is very diverse. We see interest across the scale – from smaller fishing and family boats to a growing client base for superyachts. Gulf Craft is one of only a few boat builders worldwide with the capability to produce a wide spectrum of craft under one roof and offers plenty of variety in terms of models and sizes for this market.
“We have been selling Majesty Yachts in China – from Hong Kong to Shanghai – since 2007 and it is a market that values insight and semi-personalized solutions. The typical Chinese yacht owner uses his craft differently from the typical European owner – for instance, he tends to entertain larger groups of people, not just on extended cruises, but at parties on the quay.”
Bamps added: “It’s a new market, the crews handling craft are fairly inexperienced so the yachts themselves need to be user-friendly, reliable and easily maintainable. We have been building for this market for a while now which places us in an advantageous position to build yachts that cater to what the Chinese customer wants.”
According to Bamps, Gulf Craft’s key advantage to buyers from the market lies not just in the company’s ability to offer semi-customised solutions that can be tailored to individual tastes but to its experience and understanding of local waters, local usage and solutions to technical challenges. For example, higher water temperatures as compared to Europe demand different engineering of cooling systems while high humidity and ambient temperature demand different A/C and systems designs – systems Gulf Craft already uses on its yachts plying Asian waters.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Gulf Craft has spent 20 of those years building a strong client base across the Asian continent.
Bamps added: “Our manufacturing facilities are in Asia – in the Middle East and the Maldives – and we understand the Asian customer and product usage. We bring together the strength of a global company with local expertise, a solid financial standing and a healthy order book – and that is a very desirable combination.”
The Majesty 70 yacht will be exhibited by official Gulf Craft dealer Shanghai Bahrfuss Yacht Sales Co., Ltd at Stand EC001 at Hainan Rendez-Vous 2012.
