The recession in Germany has had a direct impact on the Balearic marine market, which has suffered, although less drastically, than the whole of Spain. The sale of boats and yacht charters fell sharply, but the boat maintenance and repair sector has remained very strong.
These are difficult times for the European economy, especially with regard to Germany, which directly affects the Balearic marine industry, according to the analysis of the president of the Association of Marine Industries of the Balearic Islands (AENIB), Jaume Vaquer.
“In the Scandinavian countries, the marine market is at a standstill, because consumers, given the poor economic outlook, prefer to wait for the weather to clear. Meanwhile, Germany has spent months chaining a negative or flat growth, which directly affects the Balearics, given our direct dependence on this economy,” said Vaquer. “In fact, currently, most of the second-hand boats that are offered for sale have a German flag,” he said.
In the first seven months of the year, the Balearic marine market accumulated a year-on-year decline of 16.71% in terms of recreational boat registrations, according to data collected in the ‘Report on the recreational boat market. January-July 2024’, edited by ANEN from data provided by the Directorate General of Merchant Marine.
“It should be borne in mind that the high season, as far as boat sales are concerned, ends in June, as hardly any boats are sold during the summer months. Those who wanted to buy a boat for this summer already did so months in advance, bearing in mind that delivery times are around three months,” he explains. That is why these data, although they are from before the summer, accurately reflect the Balearic nautical market this season. “Last year, at the same time, we already experienced a slight drop in registrations,” said Vaquer.
However, the sharp fall of 19.4% recorded in the same period in Spain as a whole led the Balearics to increase its market share at national level from 17.93% in July 2023 to 18.52% today, contracting less than the rest of the country. So the Balearics remains as the leading region in the national marine market.
“It is true that the Balearics, being a nautical destination on an international scale, suffers less intensely the ups and downs of the marine market, making it the Spanish region that has greater stability in the sector,” concedes the president of AENIB.
As for the rental market, the boats registered in Spain for this use between January and July showed a decrease of 20%. Of the total number of boats registered up to July, 62.7% correspond to boats for private use and 37.3% are boats for charter, according to ANEN data.