International Boat Industry – August-September 2019

34 AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 2019 | International Boat Industry ibinews.com

Markets & Regions

EUROPE | ROUND-UP

O

nce a naval powerhouse with

a strong seafaring tradition,

Portugal today has just a

smattering of boatbuilding facilities that

cater to niche markets. These are mostly

small to medium-sized businesses that are

highly specialised, building everything

from cats for local charter firms to one-off

composite projects, dinghies and RIBs.

According to Martinho Fortunato,

owner of Lagos Marina on the Algarve

coast, these companies are doing quite

well. “The current nautical business

environment has improved and new

changes to national regulations have

REAL GDP GROWTH (2018) 2.1%

REAL GDP GROWTH (2019 est) 1.7%

NUMBER OF ADULTS 8.5 MILLION

NUMBER $ MILLIONAIRES 94,000

BOAT PARK 20,000

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE

(Change in index points Jun/Jul) +1.9%

NEW CAR SALES

(Change Jan-Jun ‘18/19) -4.4%

PORTUGAL

Complete Climate Solutions: Heating, Cooling & Roofs

S Lagos Marina, on the Algarve coast. An over-regulated system has always presented a challenge for the Portugese market

“More and more people, including

Polish customers, are interested in

these units, but in Poland people are

not rich enough. They lack significant

purchasing power. That is why the

charter market and sales of used yachts

are developing strongly.”

One problem that is not unique to

Poland is a shortage of qualified staff.

“Shipyards can receive more orders,

have more modern technologies at

their disposal, invest in machinery

and expand their production space,

but in the end, unfortunately, there is

brought more simplicity to the system,

which is very positive,” he told IBI. “There’s

still a long way to go, but it’s a decent step

in the right direction.”

An over-regulated system that

discourages people from boating has

always been a challenge for the Portuguese

industry, says Fortunato. A lack of

infrastructure (marinas and boat parks) and

the low quality of those managed by the

government is another difficulty. “It will

take at least one generation to transform

the mentality of the people and bring a

new boating culture to the population,” he

says. “Boating and the ocean has been,

a lack of experienced workers who can

be employed to significantly increase

production,” says Bąk.

“But the Polish yacht industry is

doing well,” he maintains. “Production

is growing, there are more and more

orders. However, everyone is looking

to the future with caution and anxiety.

Everyone remembers 2008 and the

recession that came at that time. And

although it seems that everything is fine

now, the shipyards expect a slowdown

in the market in the coming years, hence

they are holding back certain investments

and are waiting for what will happen.

“The biggest challenge will be

creating the Grow Boating program in

Poland,” Bąk adds. “Poland has around

38 million people, but at the moment

only one in 400 people own a boat.

We all want this to change. Polish

companies must work together with

Polboat to create a national program

for the promotion of watersports, to

encourage as many people to spend

active leisure time onboard a yacht or

boat, and in the future to educate a new

generation of boat owners.” „