In the latest issue of Yachtstyle, YACHTZOO Broker and Asia Pacific Superyacht Association (APSA) Chairman Nigel Beatty shared an update on recent changes to the yachting industry in Asia Pacific, including efforts to improve the industry’s standing when it comes to regulations.
Read below the column from Beatty in Yachtstyle:
2017 is already here and it seems that the yacht industry is pushing forward into the new year with increased activity the world over.
We have recently had a change in Chairmanship in APSA, with Colin Dawson stepping down and myself being appointed. I know I speak for many as I thank Colin for his hard work in setting up APSA in the beginning and tirelessly leading the association in the seven years following.
Building on Colin’s foundation, we have now set APSA on a new course to aggressively promote our members through in-house rebranding to create a new modern feel, a revised membership and fee structure to make it easier for companies to join APSA as an individual entity rather than a global company, as well as extending voting rights to worldwide members, not just to Asia based members. A new category of membership is “Yacht” members, where individual Yachts or Captains can join the association for free and will have access to the services and details of all our members. With all of this in mind, we are working in-house on a brand-new website that will encompass all of the above.
The year 2017 brings with it some new members that I want to welcome to APSA. Yachting Partners International, SGRM – International Insurance Brokers and Hawk Yachts all have recently become paid members to the association and we welcome their input in the future. In addition, 10 new “Yacht” members have joined.
While companies are in place in most Asian nations to provide service to visiting yachts, often, the regulations are somewhat behind. But this is changing fast and as a direct result of collaborations formed within APSA, we are seeing changes as our members heavily lobby their local and national governments. Thus, they directly see the financial impact of smart regulation changes for yachts.
In Hong Kong, we are seeing high level discussions between the Marine Department and members Expat Marine Insurance, Lodestone Yachts, Anglo Eastern Ship Management, Camper & Nicholsons, Benetti Asia, and two private superyacht owners, to relax the rules for visiting superyachts and their crews. In Japan, high-level discussions are being reported between regional and national governments and APSA members: Super Yacht Logistics and the Japan Super Yacht Association, to allow foreign superyachts a cruising permit and unrestricted cruising throughout Japan. In Indonesia, as a direct result of feedback from the experiences of cruising yachts, APSA member, The Lighthouse Consultancy, has been a leading part of a concerted effort by the Indonesian Superyacht Sector. This effort has resulted in a change in aviation regulations for the operation of internationally registered aircraft within Indonesian airspace, plus new regulations implemented to streamline the cruising permit application for visiting yachts. We are seeing this pattern repeated across the region and APSA has often indirectly been the catalyst for these successes.
Coming up in 2017, we have some fixed networking and yacht show events with Hong Kong quarterly drinks on February 23; the Singapore Yacht Show in April, where we will have a large APSA presence (to be announced); and we will also be distributing our very successful triannual show newspaper, The APSA Telegraph. In March, we will be launching the worldwide distribution of the APSA Guides. Most were distributed during the Monaco and
Fort Lauderdale shows, and the rest will be disbursed to yachting centres worldwide, and eventually into the hands of captains and first officers. Plans for the Monaco Yacht Show are well underway, with an expanded Annual General Meeting which will provide a forum for discussion for our membership. This will be followed by the annual APSA Monaco Yacht Show party, which follows the massive success of last year’s Monaco Yacht Show party, now expanded and in a more prestigious location for 2017. We also have sponsorship and advertising opportunities for our members for these events. This enables us to be able to showcase our members for a fraction of the regular price to do so during these kinds of events.
In January, we started a heavy social media campaign to share the news of our members far and wide and we have developed a full marketing plan with a detailed overview of all activities, projects and events, which will then be released to all members at the end of the month.
In summary, based on the Association that Colin and the committee members have built since 2009, this year is set to be APSA’s biggest, with many recent and ongoing achievements by our members and new and exciting projects to be launched. All of this is designed specifically to enhance our members’ business and promote the Asia region as arguably the most amazing cruising ground in the world.
