Bahrain, UAE, Egypt and Qatar are investing billions of dollars on tourism infrastructure including developing the world-class marinas to become the “Yacht Capital” of the region MENA region, according to a study.
“These four nations have built new marinas that bear no resemblance to simple piers with a few slips for midsize boats. Instead, they are complete entertainment hubs that cater to the needs of boaters and non-boaters equally, able to compete with the facilities in other popular destinations that have been built to respond to rising demand,” said Alessandro Borgogna, Principal, Booz & Company.
As part of MENA region’s efforts to diversify its economic base to tap growth opportunities in nautical tourism, the region will have to make capital investments between $200 billion to $300 billion to develop new marinas in next 15 years.
“These new nautical playgrounds are built to compete with similar facilities along the Mediterranean’s established cruising routes—which encompass Cannes, Antibes, Monaco, Nice, the Italian coastline, Sardinia, and the Balearics—as well as newly popular ports in Croatia, Greece, and Turkey, which have been developed in response to greater demand,” Borgogna added.
“To some degree, the MENA region is already making efforts to respond to booming demand for marine leisure activities. In the last seven to 10 years, the region has seen an explosion in the construction of marinas,” said Fadi Majdalani, Partner, Booz & Company.
“Nautical tourism boosts regional economies by encouraging foreign spending on domestically produced goods and services, increasing governmental revenues through taxes, and creating employment. MENA governments, supported by private-sector players, will need to create an environment conducive to the sector’s development in order to make the most of their marine assets,” he said.
At this point, however, all evidence points to the fact that the MENA region’s new marina villages will fall short of the demand for their services. Growing affluence around the world —in some segments of the developing world as well as in developed countries—has led more and more people to pursue marine activities for enjoyment as well as to symbolize their wealth and success.
“The demand for marina berths is expected to more than double by 2015 to about 82,000 berths, with the GCC and Egypt expected to account for the bulk of the demand. Further, if MENA governments take the right steps to develop the sector, this number could approximately quadruple by 2025. In order to meet this frenzied growth in marina demand, developers will have to make capital investments of $200 billion to $300 billion in the next 15 years. The development of marina leisure resources must keep pace with the growing demand if the MENA region is to achieve the economic benefits that marine tourism can bring, and the creation of more and better resources will create a virtuous cycle of even greater demand,” said Majdalani.
“With some of the most stunning marine assets in the world, the MENA region offers jet-skiing, wind surfing, diving, rafting, kayaking, underwater photography, reef walking, sport fishing, and expedition cruising. These activities hold undeniable appeal to a global cadre of tourists whose lifestyle increasingly features yachting and marina activities. Enterprising governments, private investors, and marina developers in the region would reap significant benefits if they were able to capitalize on this demand.
“Governments should use public–private partnerships to grant long-term concessions for the development, financing, and operations of marine infrastructure and services to private consortia, consisting of reputable marina master developers and operators,” said Borgogna.