Not many yacht charter firms can get you on a yacht in a matter of hours, however, one of those few organizations is a family-owned firm based in Sydney, Australia. Founded by the Malouf family, Ahoy Club is meant to bring together the best of service and convenience in a club-like atmosphere. On the origin of Ahoy Club’s name, COO Ellie Malouf states “family table talk. 2015 was probably the inception of Ahoy Club and then we launched in 2018. It was really just family table talk, we started saying “Ahoy” one day and we wanted a ‘clubby feel’ so that when customers chartered with us [they’d] feel a sense of trust.”
Often compared to app-based ride-hailing services because of their similarities in convenience, Ahoy Club offers clients a special touch around service. From dining preferences to your ideal toothpaste color, Ahoy Club exceeds the demands of even the most discerning charter guests. To learn more about Ahoy Club, we caught up with the charming Ellie Malouf during Australia’s current lockdown to discuss how Ahoy Club is bringing yacht charter into the 21st century.
For those of us who are not already familiar, can you tell us a little about Ahoy Club and how your service is different from a typical charter company?
“Ahoy Club is an online marketplace for yachts, so we offer 4,000 yachts for charter all around the world. I guess there [are] three core elements that make us stand out. So, [the] first thing is our [wide] selection, on our platform you can search and refine 4,000 crewed yachts of any style and price, whether that be a day charter in Miami or a sailing yacht [in Sydney] on Sunday, or a superyacht in the Mediterranean. If it floats it’s probably on our platform. Before Ahoy Club there was no global marketplace to find and book yachts online. Our second point of difference is our customer service, as a family we’ve owned and chartered yachts for decades and one of the main reasons we started Ahoy Club was that we thought there was a lot to be desired in the customer service [part] of the industry. I think the third point of differentiation is that we have the best prices in the industry. Being a global technology platform means that we can offer more competitive rates.”
With Ahoy Club, being a family business, is there a certain place you trace your family’s passion for the ocean to?
“It definitely all started on Sydney Harbor. [Having been] born and raised here it’s hard not to develop a love for the ocean when you’re surrounded by it. My earliest memories are really just spending weekends on Sydney Harbor with the family, [anchored] on the harbor, but we now spend a few weeks each year on the Med, Capri is definitely a family favorite.”
Have you found that your digital services attract a younger or better-informed charter client?
“So we’ve found that our digital services attract both millennial charterers and seasoned charterers. Our team provides a very high touch service from start to finish. So when [you] combine this with our tech it makes the whole process faster, easier, and more fun. We believe in the [ability] to book a charter on the same day with us, whereas typically that would take weeks. I think a great example of this was [when] a few years ago I had a client staying in Ibiza and he was staying at a hotel and not enjoying his experience there at all. So, I got a call saying “I need to get on a yacht today, for the next week.” And by the time he’d packed up his belongings and got a taxi to the marina, we’d found him a yacht and they were sipping on a cocktail on the sundeck two hours later.”
Ahoy Club has been called many things including the Uber of luxury yacht charter, with that said, what do you personally believe sets you apart?
“Like Uber, we think of ourselves as a tech company, so we’ve invested a lot of time and effort to create a great digital experience for our customers. Probably unlike Uber we have an extremely high focus on customer service, as I’ve mentioned in creating those customer experiences. You know you’ll never have a yacht cancelling at the last minute with Ahoy Club. So we are very similar in some ways, but there is an important balance being such a luxury product to have the service coupled with tech is probably the most important.”
Please tell us about Ahoy Day; has the ability to charter a yacht for one day or just one hour, opened the market to a new demographic of yachting enthusiasts?
“Yeah definitely, you can book day charters on our website instantly, so you can book and pay online which has opened up our market, especially to [the] corporate market, Christmas parties, and end of year celebrations in cities with a great harbor. This is [especially popular] in Sydney, Miami, and Monaco. It’s also been [popular] for friends just wanting to have a fun day out. It’s accessible to any type of group, so we have yachts for any type of occasion. Our range is from about 2,000 dollars for a day [or] a couple of hours, [up to] our biggest yacht, one on the platform [that’s] three million euros a week. We have specialists in each range to make sure that you’re getting the right service. What we’ve found is important is you’ve got the customer who charters the yacht for a day and then next year they want to charter for a weekend, and after that they want to go overseas for a week. We want to be that one stop shop for the customers.”
What do you believe is the key to your success in the industry?
“We believe success all comes back to providing the best customer experience. We deliver this through our focus on three things, which are the greatest selection of yachts globally, providing excellent customer service, and for the best possible price.”
What unique concierge services does Ahoy Club offer?
“Once you a book a charter with Ahoy Club the fun really begins. We’ve got an online booking platform that guests can use to build [a set of] preferences, everyone in the group can detail what they want to do, eat, and drink on the charter. If [charter guests] have any restaurant requests or really any land excursion requests we will handle all of that on our side. So that’s where our customer service team comes in; guests tell us everything they want to do, but we hold their hand every step of the way to make sure that we get all of that information. [I mean] we have people that have requested a [certain] color of toothpaste. Any kind of request that you have, we will deliver on. We also have a fantastic interactive itinerary builder; which we put a lot of effort into it. [For example] our team before each season will fly around and try the restaurants, so we can advise on the best ones to see this season.”
What’s next for Ahoy Club?
“Global expansion; we currently have offices in Australia and France, [and] soon we’ll be opening offices in the U.S. [where] we have some reps on the ground there already. We’re looking elsewhere across the world to strengthen our presence in new and exciting charter markets.”
Where can we follow you?
“On Instagram we have Ahoy.Club that’s our global account and you can also create a free account on ahoycub.com if you want to get special offers, the latest news, and yachts available for charter around the world.”
Images Courtesy of: Ahoy Club
Featured Image Credit: Jake Terrey
