The female entrepreneur taking over the yacht charter business

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Welcome to Yacht Charter Market, the weekly newsletter dedicated to the world of yacht charter.

In today’s newsletter:

• Top story: Ellie Malouf: the female entrepreneur taking over the yacht charter business

• Top charter updates: Travel to south-East Asia with Purpose, a Greek summer onboard Arbema, Aqua Mare explores the Galápagos Islands, cruise the French Riviera onboard Carinthia VII, 20% discount on Soundwave

• Zairos: FX & Cross-Currency Solutions for Charter & Asset Payments

• Charter Spotlight: Nicole Pope becomes Head of Charter Management at FGI Yacht Group

TOP STORY

The female entrepreneur taking over the yacht charter business

Ellie Malouf launches the first ever end-to-end charter booking service

Known to make waves in the yachting market is the Australian based Ahoy Club. At its helm sits Ellie Malouf, one of the few female entrepreneurs in the yacht brokerage industry. Last week, Malouf and her team launched Ahoy Days, a brand new product that will inevitably change the charter market, both in Australia and globally.

Ruffling feathers of the yacht charter market

This bold move to modernise the yacht charter experience fits right up Malouf’s sleeve. Upon launching  the brand, Ahoy Club was immediately a much-talked about business and the fact she was founded by yacht owner Ian Malouf, brought a lot of pushback from competitors. Unafraid to ruffle some feathers, Malouf’s father, Ian Malouf, exchanged his waste management empire to start the yachting business. A month after launching, Ellie was given the keys and left to manage the new yacht empire herself. 

With all the pushback from the market, Ahoy Club’s entry into the market was hot and disruptive. Malouf explains how “you need a lot of grit, a lot of perseverance; it was really tough. At the same time, I think it fired me up like nothing else.” A fire that has translated into exponential growth throughout the last seven years. Not only the company has developed, but Malouf herself too, stating it “shaped me in a lot of ways, for the better.”

What is most striking when speaking to Ellie is not her confidence or natural capacity to make people feel at ease, but rather, her ability to own up to mistakes and use them as tools to push herself and her business forward. “Our models change a lot. We had to pivot a lot over the years, like any other business, we learned a lot.”

Making Waves: Launching Ahoy Club

One element that hasn’t changed is Ahoy Club’s ability to make waves in the market. Becoming a CEO of a yachting empire in her early twenties to launching a self-built, brand new platform, Malouf and her team can do it all. 

Referred to as her ‘pandemic baby’, Malouf’s newest platform, Ahoy Days, is designed to bring together seamless digital booking of charters, elevated service and bold brand energy. 

At the start of the pandemic there was a lot of insecurity as to how the charter market would develop. With limited people allowed in public spaces and Australians unable to leave the country, businesses were forced to adapt. With a local fleet of more than 200 yachts, a pandemic venue-regulation of one person per four squared metres and yachts being considered venues, Malouf saw an opportunity: day charters.

While charters were spacious enough to host guests while adhering to covid regulations, day chartering comes with a lot of logistics. There is catering, crew, guests, chartering route, budget and, of course, any extras desired from customers. As Ahoy Club’s day chartering started to take off, a big issue Malouf noticed was how overwhelmed her team was by the administrative side of the day charters. There was so much to organise that clients were no longer being met at the dock and were missing that moment of personal contact, no matter if it was a covid-metre-and-a-half apart.

Malouf spent plenty of her weekends finetuning and reimagining the platform, thinking of solutions for the overwhelming admin, but also how to centralise these charter elements for everyone involved. If Ahoy Club could digitalise all the charter details, from food and drinks to charter routes and payments, then her team could return to the docks to welcome guests as they step onboard. The platform doesn’t only enforce Malouf’s client-first approach, it also facilitates chartering for the client. No more waiting up to two weeks for a confirmation or wondering how to organise catering onboard. Everything is done via Ahoy Days, all in a matter of minutes.

From this standpoint, Ahoy Days was launched, making day chartering easy and accessible, even for those who have never chartered before.

A qualitative global takeover

All yachts that Ahoy Days has on offer have been approved by the Ahoy team. Understanding the importance of quality, the Ahoy team visits each charter yacht, meets the captain and crew and ensures everything is up to par, even inspecting the engine room. The charter must be up to Ahoy Day standards.

The quality of charters offered doesn’t stop at the Australian border. With current plans to expand both in Australia (Queensland and Western Australia) and globally (New Zealand, Mediterranean and Miami), Ahoy Days is set to alter the yacht charter market globally. With no other end-to-end booking platforms available for organising a day or weekend charters at the snap of your fingers, Malouf is an entrepreneur in a world often opposed to change. Her Ahoy Days will reshape the future of chartering both surrounding Sydney Harbour and far beyond.

While female entrepreneurs are still too far and few in this male dominated industry, Malouf is a great example of the amazing developments that can happen when you ignore standards and norms. Malouf knows the industry inside out and Ahoy Days is a prime example of that. If you’re thinking of asking if Malouf wants to see the engine room too, the answer is yes.

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Charter Spotlight

Nicole Pope joins FGI Yacht Group

Nicole Pope becomes Head of Charter Management at FGI Yacht Group, bringing with her 12 years of charter experience. Pope has a deep passion for the yachting world and is known for her expertise of managing 50+ metre superyachts.