Megayachts are much like small corporations, in that they place a number of pressing duties on the shoulders of their primary staff. While these staff are dedicated and capable, the duties they’re being tasked with are getting more and more complex and even demanding. Captains, for example, are expected to arrange berths and land excursions while still overseeing the crew and making everything else operate smoothly. Charter brokers are managers are being asked for more details and information, too. With yacht owners and charter guests venturing to locations that they may never have visited before, the questions and requests become more complex.
That’s a primary reason why concierge services are being relied on more and more. While several such companies exist, Oplicity is the only one that focuses solely on superyachts. It also works not just with owners, but also captains, charter brokers, yacht managers, and more, tailoring services to each. In this Leadership Series interview, Shelley Dowie, managing director for Oplicity, explains why she and her partners formed the young company and how it’s making a difference.
Q: Oplicity debuted during what is arguably the worse recession we’ve seen. Why launch now, rather than wait for economies to turn around and more potential clients to emerge?
A: We all agree that the global financial crisis hit the yachting industry hard. However, some countries were hit harder than others, and most started to make a steady recovery in mid-2010. Charter figures were up on 2009, and 2010 saw 219 yachts delivered to owners and 105 new orders put in with shipyards across the globe. On average there are 1,500 yachts available to charter in any one season, a large enough client base to warrant starting the business. Launching the business in the winter gave us the spring months to promote our company before the summer season took effect.
This year looks to have a more optimistic outlook, with a slower but steady growth in many areas. Charter brokers are announcing a high level of interest at the major events around the Med this year. With more newly launched yachts traveling further afield, some exciting destinations and itineraries look to be available to yacht owners and guests this year.
Q: A few companies offer 24/7 concierge services, so how is Oplicity different, particularly for yacht owners and related parties?
A: Oplicity is the only dedicated concierge company that caters exclusively to the superyacht industry and its associated clients. Concierge companies as a whole normally cater to the mass luxury market and do not target a specific industry. One of the ways we are able to provide such industry coverage is through our personal lifestyle management team. Each director and lifestyle manager has over 10 years of yachting industry experience and brings an extensive list of trusted and reliable industry contacts they have amassed internationally over the years. In turn, they each understand the level of luxury service and demands made.
Oplicity also operates as a members-only club. Upon joining, each member is assigned a lifestyle manager, who will be the captain’s or owner’s sole point of contact. These highly trained and experienced individuals are reachable 24/7 irrespective of time zones and international barriers and are charged solely with providing the highest possible standard of luxury services.
Dealing with one company eliminates the need to be dealing with different concierge suppliers all over the world. Moreover, it enables us to build a collaborative relationship with owners and yachts, and to cater directly to their requirements, backed up by a lengthy industry contact list so we can offer exciting new lifestyle suggestions as their membership progresses.
Q: In terms of yachting services, you cater to several parties with several different needs: captains and their crews, owners and their guests, and yacht-management firms. Why target all of these, rather than just the owners and their guests? After all, they are the traditional clients for concierge services.
A: We decided to target the yachting industry as a whole, as we felt many of the sectors integrate and could jointly benefit from our services. Many concierge requests are a threefold process, often starting with the owner placing a request with the captain or charter company and then the crew having to find a local supplier to provide the service. By extending our services to all parties, we enable captains and management companies to provide owners and guests with an exceptional level of luxury service. 2010/011 saw many industry companies offering concierge services in addition to their normal services. By concentrating solely on concierge services, membership with us means we take on full responsibility for every aspect of your concierge needs.
For captains and crew, the challenge of providing effective vessel management and hospitality on board alongside securing high-end services and entertainment in countries all over the world, can often be a challenging task. At Oplicity, we aim to save captains and crew the valuable time they might formerly have spent searching for suppliers and products in each new port of call, and allowing them to outsource many of the more time consuming tasks associated with luxury yacht hospitality, freeing them up to devote more time and attention to their guests.
Our one-call service means that yachts and management companies will only ever need to contact one concierge company. Membership fees are paid upfront and, as such, are easy to factor into an annual budget, eliminating any hidden costs for owners and guests.
Q: Can you give an example of how your team has assisted and/or plan to assist each of these parties?
A: Owners and guests tend to be individual clients who utilize our services on a personal level. Requests have ranged from private jet travel, limos, and security detail to organizing holiday itineraries and buying and delivering gifts. Our latest request from a yacht was to design an itinerary for a cruise to a remote area. This has included supplying information on berths and anchorages, suggested guest trips and tours, and providing contacts that can assist the yacht with customs and legalities. For yacht owners, captains and crew the Med season will bring many requests for reservations at VIP beach clubs, top restaurants and nightclubs, and requests for security, limos, and care hire, all of which can be expertly expedited by one of our team.
A recent, more unusual inquiry was from a yacht-security firm asking if we could provide ISM consultancy and new-build consultancy in conjunction with their company. Although not strictly a “concierge” request, our industry knowledge and diversity shows we really can cater to each individual’s request.
At Oplicity we aim to provide any service a client requests, providing it is both legal and ethical!
Q: You have a members-only area of your website. What benefit does this offer?
A: When clients sign up, they are issued with a welcome pack, which includes their membership cards and log-in details for the website members’ access. This opens up a variety of additional pages and features, many of which are specific to the client. These pages consist of featured destination guides for upcoming trips, information on hotels, restaurants, and things to do, as well as news and upcoming events the clients may be interested in. The advantage of this area is the longer a clients membership progresses with us, the better we can adapt the information to reflect their own temperaments and lifestyle needs.
Clients also have access to their account summary, which features contact details for their allocated personal lifestyle manager and level of membership, and are able to keep track of how many hours they have remaining on their account.
Scott Rose
Shelley Dowie is lovely, this article contains a lot of very interesting information and ideas, and I hope Oplicity will enjoy growth for many years to come.