Camper and Nicholsons International (C&N) has announced a technology merger with Hong Kong-based seafaring company Nowboat. The collaboration will see the launch of a unique platform that will deliver bespoke experiences and data to industry stakeholders, including owners, brokers, shipyards and guests. The platform has been designed by a dedicated team of software engineers in C&N’s Monaco headquarters. By Q4 2019, it will be accessible to every industry player across all devices, including mobile, tablet and desktop.

The platform will essentially share every item of yacht intelligence including fuel usage, marina logs, staff profiles, search history and social media presence into one simple-to-use tool with dedicated solutions for every stakeholder including customers, yacht owners, brokers and captains. In the hands of a yacht owner it will deliver real-time information concerning guest feedback, energy usage and comparative yachts competing for market share. A broker will be able to access a particular vessel’s engineering upgrades, port log history and the prices of similarly sized and aged yachts.

Superyacht guests will also be able to access the system via mobile or desktop. As well as information about a certain yacht’s heritage and its typical month-by-month itineraries, there will be statistics about how much it would cost to build or charter a similar vessel. The distillation of big data will even allow shipyards to receive projections of sales and technology trends based upon tens of thousands of searches.

“Requests for real-time data concerning broker history, port data, events in itinerary locations, weather projections and much, much more has been requested by our guests, clients and shipyard partners...”

“By 2020 the global superyacht market will be worth $35bn*, but technology and data from all stakeholders is managed in an extremely hazardous way,” comments Giovanni Alessi, who joins CNI from Nowboat as Chief Innovation and Technology Officer “For example, information from brokers, clients and shipyards is stored in Word documents, email archives and handwritten notes or through third party service providers. As the industry’s leader, Camper & Nicholsons holds market intelligence dating back 240 years. By collating and sifting that information we can provide a data-driven solution to almost every industry query.”

C&N also sees digitalisation as necessary to serve radical market and customer behaviour changes. “The industry has to design and build new channels in order to consolidate its relationship with existing customers, while attract and meet a new generation of consumers, evolving its business model, utilising such channels and the access to new technologies,” says Lester Lam, chairman of Camper & Nicholsons Asia. “These customers have a different approach and high expectations from the industry and its services and use multiple and different channels and touchpoints to connect with us in Camper & Nicholsons. Technology can make customer relationships better, but also enhance the brand experience.” 

The first step of this merger consists of the launch of a new C&N website. The new portal aims to redefine the digital customer journey by offering interactive imagery and a live chat option that immediately engages clients. Bespoke itineraries everywhere from the Adriatic to Southeast Asia have been crafted with the assistance of travel journalists to entertain adventurers and curious travelers alike. Richer content, from drone footage to 360° onboard videos, will lend further depth to each yacht for sale and charter. Finally, an updated news section will maintain Camper & Nicholsons as the company of record.

Paolo Casani, CEO of C&N, strongly believes that today companies need a strategy for a digital world. “Requests for real-time data concerning broker history, port data, events in itinerary locations, weather projections and much, much more has been requested by our guests, clients and shipyard partners,” he explains. “Our new platform will deliver that information to the entire yachting community, not only our sales and charter brokers across 12 global offices. Most importantly it will do so through an in-house tech team who will consistently improve the platform based on data from, but not limited to, customer journeys to incoming yachts."

Alessi confirms that C&N’s new platform will empower industry players, rather than disenfranchise them. “Our industry innovation isn’t aimed at market disruption – that’s not a word I like to use,” he concludes. “This single ecosystem is designed to make the yachting business easier to manage and more enjoyable for all.”

*Source: Yacht Charter Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015 - 2020

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