Is There Really a Peer-to-Peer Market for Yachts?

Luxury Travel News

The Skift New Luxury column is our weekly column focused on the business of selling luxury travel, the people and companies creating and selling experiences, emerging trends, and the changing consumer habits around the sector.

“Airbnb, but for …” is a sentence you’ll read in pretty much any press release for a company looking to bring a new sector into the sharing economy. It’s a convenient if lazy approach. Of course, some industries are ripe for disruption but with others it’s more questionable.

In theory, a yacht is a place to stay, like a villa or apartment. However, the big difference is that it moves. The logistics are therefore pretty challenging. There is also the issue — and this doesn’t just apply to yachts — concerning the person-to-person aspect: Are these new marketplaces genuine or just “glamorized third-party aggregators for charter businesses” as author Samantha Shankman writes? You can read her piece and decide for yourself.

For feedback or news tips, reach out via email at [email protected] or tweet me @paddywhyte.

— Patrick Whyte, Europe Editor

5 Looks at Luxury

The State of Luxury Yacht Rentals and Sharing Schemes: Breaking open the yacht rental market with a sharing platform is a difficult endeavor given the challenges of operating a digital business within the luxury sector as well as the nuances and securities needed for an experience as hands-on as yachting.

Blackstone Swoops Back Into Hotels With $4.8 Billion Offer for LaSalle: That didn’t take long. No sooner did private equity powerhouse Blackstone say it was exiting Hilton completely than it emerges three days later with a bid for LaSalle Hotel Properties. Maybe the $14 billion it made on Hilton has something to do with being keen to get back into hotels.

Some of the Plaza Hotel’s Owners Are Suing Its Other Owners: When it comes to selling and buying The Plaza Hotel, nothing is ever simple or easy, it seems.

Langham Hospitality Group Names New CEO With Expansion on the Agenda: Can the new CEO manage to grow the Langham and Cordis brands on a larger scale? That’s the bigger task that lies ahead for Leser.

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