If you drew an arc from Gocek in Turkey, passing through Sardinia and then on to Gibraltar you would essentially dissect the Mediterranean and join up all the primary cruising grounds across the 2,000 nautical miles. Every year, thousands of guests, crew and superyachts spend the majority of their year either winter-berthed, cruising, anchored or searching for the right bay to call their own. Over the next ten years, through to 2035, we are forecasting another 3,400-plus superyachts (over 24 metres) scheduled to be delivered, with approximately 65 per cent spending much of their time in the Mediterranean. From the new-build shipyards’ and supply chain’s perspectives, this looks like good news, but from the ocean, marinas, infrastructure and service and support network’s perspective, this is going to create a huge amount of pressure on the current business model. The team at the Balearic Marine Cluster obviously had this relatively short-term market forecast in front of them when they created the Mediterranean Superyacht Forum, hosted in Palma on 28-29 April 2026, two days before the Palma Boat Show and right at the start of the cruising season.

Across the Mediterranean there are several strategic hubs with high-quality marina infrastructure and experienced refit centres that join up the dots from Gocek to Gibraltar. Antalya, Istanbul, Rhodes, Athens, Montenegro, Ancona, Malta, Sicily, Naples, Livorno, Viareggio, La Spezia, Genoa, Antibes, Toulon, Marseille, Barcelona, Valencia and Palma de Mallorca are all recognised as strategic superyacht hubs with shipyards, subcontractors, a local workforce, berthing and connectivity that guarantees that these locations are primary choices of the active fleet for service and support. However, investing, expanding and upgrading these facilities to support this ever-increasing fleet and the existing ageing fleet is not as straightforward as we all would expect. Local governments, port authorities, tourism boards, regional business associations, customs offices, environmentalists and other competing industries can all have a direct impact on where the investment and development are going to be focused for the future. 

We need to be planning and investing now, to improve, optimise and change the way
we support and service the fleet.

In order to future-proof and upgrade these regional hubs to cope with the current high demand for refit and services we need to plan now, but we also have to take a long-term view to ensure that we are fully aware of how this demand will keep increasing, even beyond the ten-year cycle. We all read about the massive growth in wealth and potential clients entering the market for the first time, but their expectations are not changing and in order to meet them we need to be planning and investing now, to improve, optimise and change the way we support and service the fleet.

If you look closely at the mission and goals of the various regional superyacht associations in Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Malta, the Adriatic and beyond, there is a pressure building to educate, advise and guide the various stakeholders and authorities that yachts are not just toys of the world’s ultra-rich, but huge sources of local and central economic value, high-quality skills development and direct employment and strategic investment. If the Balearic Marine Cluster can bring together the leaders of the regional hubs, the associations, a good community of stakeholders, along with captains, charter managers, marina owners and refit management, then I think the Mediterranean Superyacht Forum and its series of meetings, small group sessions, keynote debates and virtual interactions can have a real impact on shaping the Future of the Mediterranean, essentially mapping out where we need to upgrade, improve and optimise the superyacht market’s most important playground and homeport network.

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