The nautical sector believes that private boat chartering will ruin them.

The nautical charter sector is asking for explanations about the conditions under which the Ministry of Transport will allow the rental of private boats (list seven) for commercial purposes for three months a year from 2024. They believe that it will ruin their business and that it will be practically impossible to control that things are done properly.

Ramón Van der Hoof, president of the Pimeef Nautical Association, who was on the programme 'Hoy por Hoy for Ibiza y Formentera', acknowledges that they have always suffered from competition from companies coming from elsewhere to do business, but always with sixth list boats (passenger charters) that complied with regulations and safety measures, but now they will have to add private boats, which will not compete on equal terms and will not have to comply with any requirements.

Van der Hoof assures that they will do everything possible to stop this regulatory change, which goes against all the measures that have been taken in recent years to regulate the activity and reduce its environmental impact.

Optimistas de cara a la temporada turística

The nautical sector on Ibiza and Formentera is preparing to be 100% operational at the beginning of May. So far and during the Easter holiday weekend, only 10 to 20% of the boats offering nautical charter services are operating.

The president of the Nautical Association of the Pimeef, explains that there are about 70 boats of this type in Ibiza and Formentera. In total, in the Balearic Islands, they reach 700 and around 70% of them will operate in the waters of the Pitiusas. They estimate a turnover of more than 700 million euros, in a sector on which the economy of some 3,000 families in the archipelago depends.

Van der Hoof recognizes that it is complicated to have the necessary personnel, as it is a very technical sector that requires specific training, but he affirms that the majority of companies have taken care to buy houses to provide accommodation for the personnel, they pay much more than the sectorial agreement, and they offer stable employment, in many cases throughout the year.

According to Van der Hoof, the markets that are most committed to sailing in Ibiza are British and Nordic. Arabs and North Americans also continue to gain weight, and it is hoped that the Russian public, who have stopped travelling after the invasion of Ukraine, will start to recover.

SOURCE: Radio Ibiza