VII Nautical Awards of AENIB – Company with the most prominent professional trajectory: Comercial Morey

1.- Comercial Morey receives this year the award for the company with the most prominent profesional trajectory. What does this recognition mean to you?

We are overjoyed as it is a recognition of the Morey family´s lifelong dedication to the nautical business.

2.- What services does your company offer?

Our company sells boats, motors, nautical accessories and trailers, and at the same time offers various maintenance servicse for the boats that we sell: repairs, guardiannage, wintering, cleaning, painting etc. In other words we complement the boat sale with all the post sale maintenance services. We have been distributors of the SUZUKI outboards for over 30 years, which is one of our longest standing comercial dealerships.

3.- Your company is active since almost five decades. Could you talk about your professional trajectory? Both at a personal level (if you wish) and as a company.

The company was founded by my father Juan Morey Gil in the beginning of the seventies. The company was initially called "COANSA" (Comercial Autonáutica s.a) and was located in Palma along the road to Sóller. Already then the company dedicated itself mostly to motor boats, both inboard and outboard. After my brother Juan Mª Morey Estarellas joined the company, during what we could call the first "popularization" of yachting, the market developed immensely. Later on, in the middle of the eighties, the family tradition and my long time devotion to the sea and boats made it easy for me to join the company as well. From the start of the nineties the boat buyers increasingly started to demand post sale maintenance services, as well as dry storage during the winter, when they were not using their boats. That´s when the company made the biggest change so far and after nearly 30 years in the same location in Palma moved to new premises of 3.500 m2 in the industrial estate of Marratxi. This enabled us to respond to the demands of the "new yachting": more space to handle ever bigger boats, client parking and correct facilities to do the maintenance work that the boat owners were now demanding. Currently, our company hasn´t been able to avoid the consequences of the serious economic crisis that the sector is suffering from, but thanks to the professionalism and multi-tasking of all members of our staff, we are "weathering the storm" slowly, but surely.

VII Nautical Awards of AENIB – Longest membership: Power Boats Service

Power Boat Service is a company founded in 1982 by Anna and Isidoro Santos. Newly arrived from Cologne (Germany), they opened a nautical workshop in Porto Colom after seeing first hand what great opportunities the move opened up for them. And they were not mistaken… Through the years the company has grown and considerably extended its installations and services. The company is a member of AENIB since 1995 and a great example of a family business that is based on the values so typical of the Balearic nautical sector: determination, commitment and professional approach.

1.- This year you receive the award for the longest membership in AENIB. What does this recognition mean to you?

We are very grateful and profoundly appreciate the collaboration and support that we have received from AENIB since we started our business , then called the Nautical Association of PIMEM, and continue receiving today.

2.- Power Boats Service is a company with more than 30 years of experience. Could you talk about your professional trajectory? Both at the personal level (if you wish) and as a company.

We left Germany in year 1982, came to Mallorca and started a nautical workshop in Porto Colom, after having first investigated the demand and the possibilities in this region, specially regarding the foreign clientele. We started with a small workshop and gradually expanded and adapted the business to the circumstances and to the possibilities of the infrastructure of Porto Colom and surroundings. Currently we have a wintering hall, our own crane for lift outs and launches and our own vehicle for boat transport. Right from the beginning of our professional activity we have been an official service center for VOLVO PENTA as well as for Mercruiser/Mercury. We have also been one of the pioneering members of the IFEBAL boat shows. We have had our ups and downs, and have realized that only through perseverance, discipline and complete dedication to our company we can move forward.

VII Nautical Awards of AENIB - Entity most involved with the nautical sector in 2013: CAEB

Josep Oliver, on behalf of CAEB, reveives this year the award for the entity that most have collaborated with the nautical sector in 2013. Firm defender of the sector during the 20 years that he has been at the helm of the Balearic union, Oliver mentions as one his main achievements the integration of AENIB to CAEB.

1. This year the association awards you the prize for the entity that most have collaborated with the nautical sector during the past year. What does this recognition mean to you?

As a president of the Confederation of the Balearic Trade Associations (CAEB) this recognition is deeply satisfying to me, and  during the almost 6 years of journey together since AENIB integrated into CAEB, we have always wanted to support and colaborate to the maximum with an association that for us represents one of the most important sectors in the Balearics.

2.- Put into perspective, you were responsible for introducing the most relevant nautical associations to CAEB. What did you see in our sector to put your bets on us?

In the Balearic Islands the nautical sector gives direct employment to 13.498 people, indirect employment to 8.590 and as a knock on effect (induced employment) to 3.449, which makes a total of over 25.500 jobs. At the same time the nautical tourism attracts approximately 450.000 visitors annually, according to data released by the local government. Thanks to our nautical attractions, photos of royal families, heads of state and celebrities from the world of movies, fashion and business navigating in the Balearics have been publicized all over the world. Behind these images a bigger picture of our first class installations and services is also projected.

In 1993, when I became the president of CAEB, we understood that it was important to integrate the nautical sector as a whole. During this time, the Spanish Superyacht Association (AEGY), the Nautical Trade Association in the Balearic Islands (AENIB), and as the last one The Association of the Diving Centers of Mallorca have joined CAEB. We are very proud that these associations together with other business organizations accompany us on this entrepreneurial journey.

The second hand boat market - January 2014

During 2013 in Spain 15.860 recreational second hand boats were registered, which means a fall by -7,5% compared to the registrations in 2012 (17.157). These results show that the second hand boat market  is not immune to the crisis affecting the whole sector.

By type of boats, in 2013 14.636 second hand motor boats and 1.224 sailing boats were registered. 2012 saw 15.778 registrations in the motor boat segment and 1.397 in the sailing boat segment.

In January 2014, there were 1.043 registrations, of which 953 correspond with motor boats and 90 with sailing boats. as you can see in the table that you will find in the section of documentation/statistics and the markets on our website, available through this link, the registrations in January this year are also lower than the corresponding ones in 2012 and 2013.

To dock a boat in a sea of taxes and fees

Llorenç Riera. The seas are choppy on the Spanish coast of the Mediterranean, which by nature should be placid and tame. There is plenty of swell caused by the projects of oil prospecting and surface waves as a result of economic malaises and threats, even if these latter ones are not as important as chasing oil under the water. But, between one and the other - as usual - the general upset has resurfaced and intensified the storm that doesn´t show any signs of weakening.

The nautical sector is outraged to find out that the central Government is planning a new tax that can suppose an additional cost of 500 € to dock a boat. In fact it is a sea rescue surcharge that increases by 128% though a decree by the Ministry of Public Works. It will be applied just the same whether a boat is moored for a day or for a month, so it may - apart from affecting the local boats - provoke a scare among the foreigners. There are rumors that on the French Cote D´Azur, in the Italian yacht clubs and the Croatian marinas people are rubbing their hands in their expectation to receive those who scurry away from the Spanish coasts. In the case of the Balearic Islands there is an aggravating factor of the ongoing privatization of the ports, with the following increase of the mooring prices. Even that in mind, there is a fear that the new tax can be more expensive than the mooring itself.

But the tangible outrage in the ports has not only with economy to do. Those who understand something about navigation, affirm that this increase under the pretext of contributing to the sea rescue in the form of maintaining the light houses and other elements of nautical orientation does not make any sense, as modern GPS  has replaced the traditional methods. A land based comparison would be to say  that the cars need to be taxed for the work done on the roads by the Traffic Police and ambulances.

Read the complete article in Diario de Mallorca.

Parliament urges the central Government to adopt measures to boost the nautical sector

The Tourism Commission of the Parliament agreed this Thursday, with an abstention of PSIB and MÉS, to urge the central Government to continue to adopt measures to boost the nautical sector, for its revitalizing effect on the Spanish economy, and specially on the employment.

Representative of the Popular Party Lourdes Bosch, who presented the proposal, referred to the earlier modification of the matriculation tax by the central Government, allowing an exemption of the matriculation tax on charter yachts over 15 m, which was supported also by the Lower House of the Parliament.

Bosch, who did not accept the amendments to the modification of the law presented by PSIB, explained that the tax made it impossible to carry out charter activity in Spain in equal conditions to the rest of the European Union. Besides, "it violated the principle of free movement of people and services in the maritime transport".

According to Bosch, the nautical sector involves a high consumption of services, with a large proportion of intermediate consumption and a great capacity to create employment, which "because of their special characteristics and cost distribution, present a considerable effect on the economy".

Bosch explained that according to recent studies, out of the total of 1.189 charter yachts in the world, 767 have their base in the Mediterranean in the summer, but only 11 are registered in Spain. " This means not only a missed opportunity to create wellbeing, but also employment", she indicated.

Bosch, who is also the spokeswoman of Tourism for the Popular Party in the Parliament, assured that in Spain the nautical tourism is "discriminated from the tax point of view" in comparison to the neighboring countries, and even in comparison to other economic activities.

"Despite being one of the world leaders in tourism, in Spain we are far behind our neighbors when it comes to nautical tourism", she pointed out adding that  "if Spain chooses to give incentive to nautical charter through tax policies, it could capture up to 30% of the volume of this business in the Mediterranean".

To finish off, she reminded that the president of the local government, José Ramón Bauzá assured this past Wednesday that he will fight against the new navigation tax, planned by the central government. She admitted that this new tax will be  "a step back" and will make us "loose competitiveness".

+ Info: Link

Bauzá: "The elimination of the matriculation tax means an end to a disadvantage"

The president of the Balearic Government, José Ramón Bauzá, assured this Wednesday that the elimination of the matriculation tax on charter yachts represents "an end to a comparative disadvantage" in relation to other tourist destinations.

He made these declarations during the inauguration of the conference ´Elimination of the matriculation tax on charter yachts: boost to the economic activity´, and added that nautical businesses can now establish fiscal residency in the Balearic Islands in equal conditions to the competing destinations.

"For this Government, the strategic character of the nautical sector is unquestionable, because of the high potential of growth and generation of wellbeing and jobs", he manifested before stating that the nautical sector generates a business volume of around 800 million euros, of which over 200 correspond with the area of construction and reparation of vessels.

During the conference, Bauzá indicated that the elimination of the matriculation tax on recreational yachts over 15 m destined to charter and approved in the Congress in October last year, " is an important measure adopted by the central Government, a measure demanded both by the Balearic Government as well as the sector itself, aware of the importance that this elimination will have for boosting the nautical activity and for the tourist services in general".

The president declared that this initiative means an end to a comparative disadvantage in relation other tourist destinations, where the nautical sector is considered more important than here.

"MANY COMPANIES CAN ESTABLISH FISCAL RESIDENCY IN THE BALEARIC ISLANDS"

"Now, many companies can establish fiscal residency in the Balearic Islands in equal conditions to competing destinations. And this will undoubtedly result in an increase of direct and indirect income, and will activate the maintenance and repair of super yachts in our community, with a consequent creation of jobs", he said.

Along the same lines, he emphasized the importance of working towards making the Balearics the leading destination based not only on the number of entering yachts but also for all the associated services.

Read the complete article in Europa Press.

The Chamber of Commerce collects the complaints of the sector against the new nautical tax

The Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of Mallorca, José Luis Roses, has today committed to canalize the petitions of the nautical sector against the increase of the tax T0 for recreational yachts, planned by the central government, because "it endangers the promotion strategy of the Balearic tourism".

Roses made these declarations during the conference organized by the Directorate General of the Ports and Airports of the Government to address the elimination of the matriculation tax on charter yachts, a long term demand by the sector that became a reality a few months ago, according to a statement by the Chamber of Commerce.

Roses expressed his satisfaction over the elimination of the tax and told that he is expecting "to see the possibilities created", for the reactivation of the economy of the islands.

At the event, the president of the Balearic Government, José Ramón Bauzá, committed himself  to "fight against a tax (T0) that reduces the competitiveness of such a strategic sector in the islands".

He also assured that his government will "work to make it easier for yachts to come and for associated services to carry on with their business", in order to "encourage the nautical activity and the tourist sector in general".

Ports IB starts again this year an online platform for mooring reservations

The Balearic Ports has started again this year the online platform, to which a total of 143 moorings from 8 to 15 meters in the autonomic ports are linked. The system, which is available at www.portsib.es, allows a reservation of a mooring in advance for a maximum of 5 days, as well as payment of the mooring, thus enabling the sailors to plan their routes and landfalls in advance.

The minimum prior notice for making a reservation goes from two day to one and the maximum length of reservation from three days to five. Another one of the novelties introduced this year is the possibility to make changes in the reservations according to availability and subject to a prior e-mail by the user.

More than 1.600 reservations were booked through this platform during the high season last year.

Vía Europa Press

The ports have lowered their prices already by 30% to compensate for the increase of taxes and other costs

"Now is not the time to increase prices".  Conscious that nowadays to increase prices is synonymous to making loss, this statement could be signed by any entrepreneur, although in this instance it is pronounced by one of the more important operators in the nautical sector, Patrick Reynés. The vice-chairman of the Association of Marinas and Nautical Installations is aware of the increase of the price-sensitivity of the sector, and explains that for the duration of the crisis they have compensated for the increasing costs their clients have to face by lowering the mooring fees, but even they are on the limit now. They have faced such setbacks that they don´t have margin for any more. Although there is more: two weeks ago the central government surprisingly approved a new tax for sea rescue, which will double the cost of the previous tax, forcing the boat owners to pay  up to 500 euros more per boat annually, according to an estimate by the Association of Yacht Clubs in the Balearic Islands. Is that a lot of money? Maybe not when considering the total costs of maintenance of a boat, but it makes the situation from bad to worse: the increase comes after many other costs that affect the yachting and nautical tourism.

According to the yacht clubs and associations related to the sea, the recently rephrased sea rescue tax adds to the other brutal increases like the one affecting the fuel, or the ones affecting other costs, like the electricity or other general taxes like the VAT. The direct result of the increases during the six years of crisis is a continuously falling occupation in the ports, even more markedly during the mid- and low seasons.

And this despite that the mooring prices have dropped considerably. According to the latest annual report by the Spanish Federation of Associations of Tourist Marinas and Ports, between the start of the crisis in 2008, and the year 2012, the prices of mooring cessions fell by 19,6% in Mallorca, while the prices of mooring rentals fell by 26%. Since then, the tendency has continued, confirms the sector: price cuts after price cuts, specially  outside the high season, when the moorings have declining occupation levels.

The registrations of recreational craft fall by 5% in January

A total of 170 recreational vessels were registered in Spain in January,  which is 5% less compared to January 2013 when 179 vessels were registered, according to the information from the Directorate General of the Merchant Navy, after being analyzed by the Spanish Association of Nautical Trade (ANEN).

"This moderate drop could mean a stop to the fall of the registrations and give us a reason to predict a positive result, even if still with small numbers, at the end of the year 2014", pointed out the general secretary of ANEN, Carlos Sanlorenzo.

ANEN emphasizes that the market for charter vessels recovers in January, reaching the levels prior to the crisis, equalling the 10 registrations for charter use in January 2007, compared to the 2 in January 2013.

By length, the vessels smaller than 8 m have fallen in the same proportion as the national average, a 4,97%, compared to January 2013.

The complete article in Europa Press.

Nautical sector requests a rectification of the increase ´by over 100%´ of the lighthouse tax for recreational vessels

The Association of Marinas and Nautical Installations of the Balearic Islands (ANADE) together with the rest of the nautical sector  requests the central government to rectify the increase by over 100% of the so called lighthouse tax, known also as T0, which "is very damaging to the concessionaires and the boat owners as this measure has been adopted as a Royal Decree without consulting the operators in the sector", they complain.

Apart from ANADE, which represents the recreational marinas in the Balearics, other associations have joined this petition, for example AEGY (The Spanish Super Yacht Association), ANAVRE (The Recreational Boaters Association), CME (The Spanish Maritime Cluster), ANEN (The Spanish Marine Trade Association), FEAPDT (The Spanish Federation of Associations of Tourist Marinas), ACNB (The Association of Yacht Clubs in the Balearic Islands), AENIB (The Association of Marine Trade in the Balearic Islands), FENIB (The Federation of Marine Trade in the Balearic Islands), CEACNA (The Spanish Confederation of Associations of Yachts Clubs) and ACNCC (The Association of Yacht Clubs in the Community of Valencia).

In their statement, ANADE confirms that all the signing entities have demanded for years the elimination of the tax T0, previously known as the lighthouse tax, for "lacking justification", as in the modern tourist and recreational yachting the coastal lighthouses are not used anymore.

Letter from the president - February 2014

Within short, we´ll celebrate one of the association´s most expected events: the Annual General Meeting. We are working very hard to make it a very special evening where we can catch up with all of you in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. Otherwise, this past month has been quite agitated. We´ll analyze the most important news in continuation.

We are fast approaching the Annual General Meeting of the association. We have been working painstakingly and with enthusiasm for some time already to make it a magnificent event. Internally it is an occasion of great importance, therefore we hope to be able to count on your participation. During the Assembly we´ll explain to you all the actions that we have carried out throughout the year, as you – the nautical entrepreneurs, are the real motor of all our achievements, which have not been few. We will also give details of the future actions, which have been planned with one thing in mind: to help the nautical sector of the Balearic Islands to continue prospering. And we will of course pay tribute to those companies and entities that have been prominent either by their trajectory or by their commitment to the nautical sector. In the next few days we´ll send you all the information regarding the Assembly, and hope that you will get as inspired as we are!

AENIB meets with the new head of the Council of Tourism and Sports

Last Thursday various representatives of the Association of the Nautical Enterprises in the Balearic Islands (AENIB) met with the new councillor of Tourism and Sports, Jaime Martinez, to pass him the worries and preoccupations of the sector and to find out first hand what measures his department is planning to take to support the Balearic nautical sector. 

During the course of the meeting, AENIB made it clear how important it is to keep in mind the distinctive aspects of the nautical tourism in future legislative processes. Besides, the nautical entrepreneurs requested a summons of the ATB tourism working group and an elaboration of a plan for 2014 that would include all sectors. Another issue that worries the AENIB is that the Balearic Islands might be left outside the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2010. For the association "our aim is that the Balearic Islands will become a priority when the EU decides over the financial programs dedicated to the development of "Blue Growth" projects. This way, projects related to Nautical Tourism can be attended as well. The Balearic Maritime Cluster is the suitable organism in this case".

The councillor Martinez on the other hand informed the entrepreneurs of a new system called Online Tourist Management, and of a plan for  seasonal adjustments in tourism. Mr Martinez also assured that a New Comprehensive Plan of Tourism 2015-2020 is being outlined. The nautical sector will get a special emphasis in this new plan, which will be coordinated by the Direction General of the Department of Tourism.

Both parties appreciated the meeting and qualified it productive. Margarita Dahlberg, the president of AENIB, took the opportunity to emphasize the good communication that exists between the association and the Direction of Ports and Airports