Charter in focus

Charter booking for 2025 are surging early, with Burgess leading the market across all size sectors and global regions. Heading into the summer season, the strength of the global charter market has never been more evident.

FREDDIE AND TIM TALK CHARTER

Frederica Findlater, Head of Charter Management: We have witnessed an incredibly strong start to 2025, with our charter brokers reporting record interest and revenues. It’s unprecedented and made possible by owners confirming a yacht’s availability early – those that have, have taken full advantage. It’s a healthy market across the board, but the 50-60m just stands out with that clear sense of demand. 

Tim Jeffrey, Head of Charter, USA: Our success with early bookings is closely connected to incredibly healthy levels of repeat business from charter clients. If they loved the last charter, they are first in the queue for next season – and repeat business generally books earlier. 

Freddie: Burgess’ large yacht expertise is well known, but it’s usually connected with sales and new build. Our 70m+ charter success is a good reminder that we cover the entire large yacht sector. It’s all connected and aligns to the fact we have twice as many 70m+ charter yachts as our nearest competitor. 

Tim: The headline 11.5 day average duration at 70m+ is impressive. What I would say is that these figures are a little skewed by some extended charters of a month or more. Every year we arrange these long-term charters for clients and it does stretch that average out. These charters are an interesting part of the business. They give clients a real sense of what it is like to be an owner, living on board and with a crew. 

Freddie: Generally speaking, charter is still very much demand-led and most charter guests want to be in the traditional areas around Monaco, Capri, Porto Cuervo and the Amalfi Coast. We have seen some interesting pockets of activity over the last 12 months, perhaps generated as much by economics as the local cruising grounds. For instance, Malta, a beautiful charter destination, has seen a comparatively large increase in charter embarkations following a drop in VAT from 18 percent to 12 percent, as opposed to 22 percent elsewhere in the Western Med.