Portbooker develops a price management system for advance booking of moorings

Portbooker , the largest booking portal of moorings which has been established for 6 years, with more than 17,000 reservations processed since May 2006, has developed a system of pricing in order to help the ports to take full advantage of the boats moored on the basis of market demand.

Similar to econometric models employing pricing with airlines or hotels, RevPAM (Revenue per Available Mooring), Portbooker set the price of a stay at a marina based on what the client is willing to pay Thus, such criteria means the price is better the more in advance you book for the same length, size and type of boat. The marina which is a more attractive nautical destination will determine the level of expected demand and the price the customer is willing to pay. The season is the main factor in nautical destinations like the Mediterranean or the Caribbean which have great seasonality, but the model also takes into account the greater linearity of prices in countries like USA, Singapore and Thailand.

The Government regulates the moorings on the Balearic Islands

With an eye to preserving the seagrass meadows and even further improve the quality of our waters, the Balearic Government has presented a decree regulating the anchorage in the archipelago. Before you panic, note that any vessel may anchor in sandy bottoms and continue as before. Whilst those vessels over 12 meters cannot moor on seagrass meadows within 35 meters depth. Above this depth there are no restrictions to moor, says the draft decree. The rule does not apply to protected areas such as Site of Community Importance (SCI), or in waters or areas subject to state and regional ports, as they have their own regulations. 

It is worth mentioning that the Department directed by Gabriel Company prepares a plan so you can anchor in the SCI areas, which may only be made in areas of low environmental impact buoys. Thus, there will be installed 358 buoys in ten different areas for boats up to 25 meters in length from 1 June to 30 September. 

The Financial Times speak against the registration tax that only applies in Spain

"Squeeze the rich can be counterproductive," is the title of an article in May 24th edition of the business daily Financial Times showed their displeasure with the Special Tax on Certain Means of Transport and echoed the damage caused by this tax in the Balearics. In its supplement "Yachting & Marinas" it ensures that the charter industry "has been almost destroyed" in Spain because of the tax payable by vessels over 8 meters. The prestigious newspaper cites a recent report by the National Association of Marine (ANEN) to illustrate its claim : in 2011 this special tax raised EUR 1.5 million, while "normally we would earn 600 million through the extra traffic, revenue from marine, shopping in stores, restaurants and other expenses that had been generated by users of charter who were deterred from operating in Spanish waters. "

Vessels over 12 meters may not anchor in the Posidonia

Vessels over 12 meters in length may not anchor on seagrass meadows within 35m of depth, according to the decree law to protect this native algae,says the Balearic Government, which also prepares a plan for protected areas with the installation of 358 mooring buoys .

According to the decree, released today by the Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Territory, Biel Company, vessels under 12 meters in length may anchor in any area not protected the Balearic coastline, whilst those above this length will have do so on sand unless the depth is greater than 35 meters, where the sea grass no longer grows because of darkness. Above this depth there are no restrictions to fund, says the draft decree.

The organizing committee of the Palma International Boat Show begins preparing for the 2013 edition

The Director General of Trade and Enterprise chaired the first meeting of this committee since in March when they announced the postponement of the show.

The Director General of Trade and Enterprise, Cesar Pacheco, on Monday chaired the meeting of the organizing committee of the PalmaInternational Boat Show. This is the first meeting of the commission since last March they decided to postpone the celebration of the 29thedition to 2013, due to the insufficient volume of applications for registration amongst entrepreneurs.

Yacht clubs urge the Government to rule out the ' absurdity' of the moorings issue...

The Association of Yacht Clubs of the Balearic Islands (ACNB) has urged the Government to discard the "absurd situation" of the moorings issue and regretted that the Department of Environment has released the basic lines of a decree on funding "without making any consultation with the marine industry. "

Thus, ACNB has asked the Government that "manifest publicly and know their intention not to take it forward, in order to prevent nautical tourists who have planned to spend the season in the Balearics another destination and lessen the conflict in the Mediterranean "because, in their opinion," there is much that is at stake. "

Proposals made during the XI Forum of Nautical Tourism

The XI nautical tourismI Forum organized by the Royal Spanish Navy League, held on April 26, 2012, proposes a strategic policy to be more competitive with other neighboring countries. Below are some of the messages that were released:

- As Spain neglected nautical tourism, emerging in the industry are Croatia and Turkey and France, Italy and Greece boost its policies to keep tourists, said several experts in the Nautical Tourism XI Forum

- Spain is a predominantly coastal, "the competent authorities can help to realize the potential of nautical tourism to generate employment and wealth," said Juan Diaz, vice president of the Royal Spanish Navy League (RLNE), institution that wishes to be heard to current problems

- The high taxation and the lack of a strong strategic and international policy discourage foreign tourists from our water. Nautical tourism is "the forgotten" Spanish tourism, says Zunzunegui Albert, vice president of FENAN.