Deploying advanced tech with timeless design

Our Correspondent
EMIRATES BUSINESS

Gulf Craft, the world’s innovative builder of luxury yachts and leisure boats, has served the aspirations of passionate seafarers for more than three decades. The award-winning manufacturer is one of the world’s leading superyacht shipyards, a merit it has achieved through continuous investment in research and
development.
Founded in the Emirates in 1982, Gulf Craft continues to redefine the on-water living experience with its wide variety of premium craft, ranging from 27 feet to 155 feet in length. Deploying advanced technology, powerful
engineering, and timeless design, Gulf Craft builds each creation to meet the
diverse requirements of its discerning clientele,
transforming travel by sea into a journey worth
indulging in.
With an expanding
portfolio that includes the enchanting Majesty Yachts, the oceangoing Nomad Yachts, Silvercraft fishing boats and family cruisers, and Oryx sport yachts and cruisers, Gulf Craft has built an enduring legacy.
Makers of luxury
superyachts must change the way they do business in order to survive in today’s challenging economic
environment, stated Erwin Bamps, CEO of Gulf Craft.
With four yards in the Emirates and one in the Maldives, Gulf Craft now exports more than 70
percent of its output of more than 500 vessels a year, with an overall length of up to 155 ft.
The luxurious yachts and super yachts are found in virtually every major
harbor of the world.
Bamps said superyacht businesses must redirect their focus from one that is product oriented and
focused on acquiring new clients, to one that is
committed to enhancing the yachting experience for
existing customers.
“Today, our industry is so zeroed in on trying to find prospective customers in new markets — be it Brazil, China, South East Asia, or Australia, that we forget where the value truly lies, and that is in our current client base,” Bamps said.
“The availability of money is only one aspect of sales, there are other important factors to consider, including the ability to spend, the willingness to spend, and the prevalence of an overall yachting culture— all are instrumental when deciding to make such an investment,” Bamps added. “Our existing customers are the real ambassadors of yachting, because they do not see a superyacht as a product, but as an intrinsic part of their lifestyle – a passion that is in their blood.”
However, in order to leverage client relationships as opportunities for new business, existing customers must first have had a positive experience.
That, says Bamps, is all about creating customer confidence, one that is driven by the ability to deliver on service and
user-friendliness.
Gulf Craft initiated its business with 15-feet and 19-feet fishing boats to cater to the local market. From that humble beginning, Gulf Craft has grown into an international manufacturer of top-quality yachts for a global clientele, thus winning customers in the American, Asian as well as European markets.
Today, Gulf Craft markets its boats and yachts to 50 countries worldwide, through dealers in over 40 territories.
The UAE-based company also has a manufacturing unit and marine service center in the Maldives, which is the first investment from the Middle East of its kind in the Asian
Marine industry.
Gulf Craft is one of only a handful of manufacturers capable of producing
vessels of 100-ft and over, with an annual production
capacity of more than 500 vessels up to 135 ft overall length.