Van der Hooft: «The sector does not understand the restrictive mooring policy»

Ramón Van der Hooft: "The sector does not understand the restrictive policy of moorings, which prevents the economy from developing positively

Ramón van der Hooft (Den Helder, Netherlands, 1983) arrived in Ibiza in 2006 after finishing his business degree. It was then that he was offered a summer job on a sailboat and discovered the marine world. He signed up for a higher degree in Navigation and obtained the title of Height Skipper. After several seasons as a skipper, he decided to embark on his own adventure and opened his own boat management company. Currently, he holds the position of CEO at 'The Boating Group', a group representing five companies, which deal with multiple areas of recreational boating. Since last December he is also president of the Association of Nautical Industries and Services of Ibiza and Formentera, from where he defends "the interests of amateurs and professionals of recreational boating in the Pitiusas"

—What challenges do you have as the new president?
First of all, continue with the files of my predecessor Ramón Díaz. There are many issues that could not be finished in the previous legislature, and I know that we have great challenges to guarantee the future of the sector and the people who depend on it. The new board of directors is made up of members representing all branches of recreational boating in Ibiza, and this allows us to be aware of all the concerns of the sector. I will bet on dialogue with all public bodies and representatives of political parties, and I trust that there is a way to reach an understanding that allows the sector to move forward in a sustainable way, without being subject to all kinds of limitations.

—What expectations are there for 2023?
Expectations are good. At the beginning of February, the Balearic Islands had registered 11% more boats than last year. However, there is concern about the economic situation and inflation, and the lack of moorings on all the islands, but we trust that the demand can
absorb it and that we can count on a good tourist season.

—Has the price of repairs gone up?
Yes, we have suffered an increase in all prices between 10-15%, inflation is still rampant so the vast majority of suppliers have been forced to increase their prices and in the end we have to pass these increases on to the end customer.

—Are there enough mechanics?
Unfortunately, the situation is still the same as it was a year ago. We are in continuous search to find qualified personnel and there is no way. At the local level there are no professionals and the technicians of the peninsula reject our offers, although they are well above the offers of some communities of the peninsula, due to the difficulties in finding a home at an affordable price. We have been claiming for some time that Ibiza needs a medium/higher vocational training center to be able to train naval specialists and just as Menorca and Mallorca already have one, in Ibiza we continue to hope that our political representatives will have it on their agenda as a priority issue. It is true that every time we have had meetings with different political leaders they have always transmitted the will to move forward, but after more than 7 years waiting, we are still at the same point with what this sector represents for GDP of the Pitiusas.

—How is the mooring issue going?
Demand has increased and the number of berths has decreased. This situation is causing that an important volume of business in the nautical sector is being lost. In this case too, therefore, the situation has worsened. Companies that are dedicated to the sale of boats, despite having customers willing to buy, lose sales operations due to the impossibility of accessing a berth, a fact that greatly harms the income that our companies could have, as well as the loss of collection by public bodies. The sector still does not understand this restrictive policy that is preventing the economy from continuing to evolve positively. On the other hand, the APB in October of last year notified that 123 moorings of the Marina Botafoc marina should be left free between the months of October and June, a fact that caused great discomfort among users and that will undoubtedly reduce the result of many charter companies that together with the price of the berths is causing many possibilities that a significant number of companies have than to close their businesses, with what this will mean for the income of APB and the concessionaires of the marinas. It has been observed that a significant number of private customers have already put their boats up for sale. As the public will understand, all these vicissitudes in addition to the new regulations that are being approved or will be approved makes us see a rather worrying horizon for recreational boating.

—Has the number of dry docks been expanded?
To date there have been no changes. We continue with the same square meters as in previous years, but we are waiting for the Special Port Plan to see the location and qualification of the work area, as well as its surface, and we trust that in the new project it will be contemplated with more square meters of surface than there are currently, as well as that it is in open regime so that the nautical business fabric of Ibiza, that it is made up of many freelancers and small businesses, can continue to give work in winter and summer to a large number of employees on which their families depend on repair and maintenance work.

—Does the global supply crisis affect the sector?
There are still shortages in some products, especially electronics, but we can conclude that delivery times are normalizing, which is a positive fact.

—Has the management of administrative procedures improved?
More and more administrative processes can and should be done online. This greatly facilitates the process of submitting applications, but we do detect a delay in the response deadlines unbearable for professional companies, which is probably also due to the lack of personnel.

—Will we return this season to the problem of anchorages?
From our point of view there is no problem of funding. It is established that almost all users respect good environmental practices. It should be noted that anchoring on sandy bottoms has no ecological impact and, if we talk about the preservation of Posidonia meadows, the real problem is the emissaries and desalination plants. There are already several studies and judgments that corroborate this. From the sector we are the first interested in taking care of the sea and we will always criticize the bad practices that may exist in isolated cases. Among surfers there is a high level of social control where, between us, we educate other users continuously.