A
ndrew Pitchford has been appointed Ferretti Group’s Sales
and Marketing Manager for Asia-Pacific and is among a
series of notable industry moves within the yachting industry
in Asia in recent months.
Pitchford started at Ferretti Group in May, having been Princess
Yachts’ General Manager for Asia-Pacific since April 2017. The
Englishman has already travelled extensively with the Italian
conglomerate in his first two months, visiting the Ferretti Group
headquarters in Italy and attending dealership events in Australia (see
EVENTS) and Vietnam (see NEWS).
There have been significant personnel changes in Thailand, where
Northrop & Johnson announced in June that Lies Sol would manage its
newly created Asia-Pacific charter team, to complement the company’s
existing sales, brokerage and new build services in the region.
Sol has been appointed Charter Broker and Manager, and remains
in Phuket, where the Dutch national has been based for the best
part of 30 years. She was formerly working in Camper & Nicholson’s
charter marketing division.
“Her wealth of local cruising knowledge, incredible network of
contacts and many years of industry experience ensure she is well
suited for managing charter yachts in the Asia-Pacific region as well
as assisting clients in planning their dream luxury charter holidays in
the territory and beyond,” read a statement from Northrop & Johnson.
Meanwhile, Lee Marine, which represents Northrop & Johnson in
Asia, appointed Chanyo Manakulsawasd as Country Manager in
May. Based in Bangkok, Chanyo was previously working for Azimut
Yachts Thailand.
Also in Thailand, Rico Stapel departed Boat Lagoon Yachting
and Princess Yachts South East Asia in May after more than six years,having been Head of Charter for the majority of that time.
Stapel has been based in Thailand since 1990 and worked for the
likes for Simpson Marine and Northrop & Johnson, but is now heading
business development at JStar & Stapel, which ‘specialises in Charter
Yacht Marketing – nothing else’. Stapel founded JStar & Stapel to
support the charter industry with a B2B solution for yacht owners and
agents/concierges alike.
“The day charter market here in Phuket is quite fragmented and
it’s not always an easy task to find correct information and learn all
there is to learn for an agent/concierge offering yachts to their clients,”
Stapel said. “Yacht owners, on the other hand, often don’t have the
time to execute a comprehensive marketing strategy for just one yacht
either.”
In Singapore, industry heavyweight Julian Chang was appointed
Senior Advisor for Burgess in June, having been Fraser’s Director for
Southeast Asia since January 2014.
Chang has been a Member of the Board of Directors of The
International SeaKeepers Society since January 2010 and the
President of SeaKeepers Asia since May 2017. He’s also the Managing
Director of Raffles Yacht Pte Ltd and the former Executive Director of
Yantai Raffles CIMC Offshore Limited.
China’s Rock Wang made arguably the biggest move when
he relocated to Haarlem in the Netherlands for his new role as
Feadship’s Account Manager Asia. Wang had been Burgess’s Chief
Representative, China, since December 2017, having represented
Edmiston for five years prior to that.
Wang is focused on commercial activity and sales for Feadship’s
Asian business while supporting the superyacht builder’s marketing
team for branding, PR and marketing activities in the region.INDUSTRY MOVES IN ASIA
Asia’s yacht industry has witnessed several significant personnel moves
in recent months, in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and beyond.Andrew PitchfordRico StapelLies SolJulian ChangChanyo ManakulsawasdRock WangNEWS
Movers in Asia