Learn About Yacht Charter Management with Nicolas Fry of Hill Robinson 

At the Monaco Yacht Show 2024, Onno Ebbens, Chief Marketing Officer at YATCO sat down with Nicolas Fry, Head of Yacht Charter Management of Hill Robinson Yacht Management to learn more about the role of a yacht charter manager. Enjoy this interview onboard luxury yacht AMARYLLIS, a 257′ 4” (78.43m) yacht currently available for charter across the Bahamas and Caribbean during the winter months and the Mediterranean Sea over the summer. 

Watch Inside Yacht Charter Management | Interview with Nicolas Fry, Hill Robinson | YATCO video on YouTube.

Video Transcription :

Onboard with the Head of the Charter Management of Hill Robinson

“I’m so happy to be invited on board to talk to the head of Charter Management of Hill Robinson. So, would you mind introducing yourself to the few people that don’t know you.”

Brief Introduction

“Yes, of course, so welcome on board AMARYLLIS this beautiful 78m from Abeking & Rasmussen that we manage and we promote for Charter. I’m the Head of Charter Management for Hill Robinson. It’s been a year that I joined the company and before I was working with Denison Yachting then Northrop & Johnson and Camper & Nicholsons. It’s been almost 12 years that I’m doing the central agency role.”

More About Central Agent Role?

“Yeah and that’s interesting because 12 years. Thank you so much for inviting us. We’re very honored to be with you on board, but like what does a central agent do? Because I know we’re talking and we are basically making these videos for people that are interested in chartering and obviously they want to know, how do I find the best and a central agent has a crucial role. How would you describe the role of a central agent?”

Discover the Role of the Central Agent

“Well, first the role of central agent is to promote the yachts in our fleet. Which means that we take care of all the marketing activities of this boat on the charter market, we organize boat shows we present the boats at boat shows like this and sometimes I speak to nice people like you.”

“We try to do many different things around the boat to for people to come and discover the boat experience. The charter show is the best place for that and then sometimes we organize a FAM trip, sometimes organize an open day or a lunch at anchor with the brokers and that’s the marketing part. Then of course we receive the inquiries from the brokers and we send all the information that the brokers need to promote that boat to his or her clients. Then after that we exchange some emails about the boat, about the destination, about the itinerary, etc… and we receive offers. We transfer those offers to the owner. Sometimes they accept it sometimes they don’t and then we try to negotiate the best deal for this charter to happen.”

“Okay, so basically you are the in between the owner that wants to put his boat for charter and a group of charter brokers that have clients that are looking for a charter vessel.”

“Correct. In fact, we act like the owner’s rep on the charter market.”

Misconception between Charter Broker and the Central Agent Roles

“Fantastic because a lot of people have a misconception that the charter broker handles the vessel on charter. No, it’s a central agent in our industry that basically lists a vessel for charter. I think t’s good to know. So it doesn’t matter to which broker you go in the end if you want to charter AMARYLLIS it will always go to your desk.”

“Yes, but as a central agent we don’t book directly with clients. It’s always through a broker. So, the broker will represent his charter client and we represent the owner’s interest.”

How did Nicolas Fry get into the Yachting industry?

“So, on a personal note how did you get into this industry? Like 12 years ago into the charter industry.”

“It dates back to 2004/2005 when my father bought a sailing yacht. I was working in real estate and it was 25m sailing yacht. So let’s say the entry level of the of a yacht. But, he asked me since I was based in the south of France to look after his boat when he was working. He said you are good in marketing, so you will do a charter brochure and you will do a website, and you will look for some charter clients. So, I started like this for his boat and then after 2 years uh I left the real estate industry and I moved to the yachting industry.”

Stepping Into the Yachting Industry Without Any Regrets

“Have you ever looked back?”

“No.”

“It’s a beautiful world that we live in right.”

Is There an Industry That Attracts Nicolas Fry Now?

“Yeah, there is only one other industry that attracts me now. It’s the hospitality. But we do a lot of hospitality within the yachting industry and that’s what I like.”

Beyond Seven-Star Service: Crafting the Perfect Charter Experience

“Yeah because our industry is about people say seven star service. I say it goes beyond that it’s about also for a charter, you work together with the broker Etc…because you need to have the perfect experience for the client, but also you need to convince the owner that client is actually the right person to charter the vessel.  I mean we’re not talking about AMARYLLIS, but in general.”

Understanding Offer Declines: The Role of Client Preferences

“Do offers often get declined?”

“Yes. Yes. For various reasons.”

“Yeah for various reasons as you mentioned, it depends on the client.”

Reasons For Offer To Be Declined

“So we do some checks on the client and if the client is not legitimate or if he for example is on a sanction list or what we don’t accept the offer. That’s first. Secondly, when the offer is too discounted the owner might say no I’m not interested there is a charter rate and I okay there is a bit of flexibility but not 30% not 40%, so that’s another possibility. Another way sometimes offers are declined because it’s too short. For example, if you have an offer for 3 days the owner might say no, I want minimum one week. I’m not interesting in 3 days. Or for example during the Caribbean season, generally they ask for 10 days for Christmas and New Year. So, you might receive a good offer for 7 days and we would say no sorry the owner is looking for 10 days.”

Different Types of Vessels for Every Client

“Okay, so that’s because it’s someone’s private vessel in the end. So, they probably also will like a certain type of clientele. We all know that there’s certain charter vessels that are more suited for families or for group of friends or for very private things and I guess that’s also one of the decisions that owner will make. Do these people fit my vessel?”

Background of a Client: A Key Factor in the Vessel Owner’s Decision

“Exactly that’s also an important criteria as long as we receive this information from the broker because sometimes they disclose this information when we sign the contract. When the owner has agreed on the booking he can always not sign the contract in the end, but generally we try to get as much information as we can. Generally the information comes after, when the client has paid and is organizing his own charter. Even at the beginning of the the inquiry, generally we don’t know how many people will come, we don’t know the nationality of the client, so we we try to ask those question but sometimes it’s really difficult to get that information for the owner.”

Why is a Client’s Background Information Considered Confidential?

“What’s the reason for that? Is that like people don’t like to disclose that personal information? They want to protect their clients?”

“Two reasons to that. Some brokers they don’t really know their clients. They have the inquiry and other than that it’s not to disclose some very important information about their clients.”

 Tips for Charter Guests Before Submitting an Offer: What to Know

“Fantastic and obviously I’m I’ve been talking to sales brokers, charter brokers and I’m talking to you just saying central agent. I know you’re head of Charter Management, but if you from your perspective representing the owner as the owner I represent, the owner in charter what is the main tip you would give to a charter guest? Someone who’s interested in chartering. Whether it’s AMARYLLIS or some a different boat. Something smaller, something bigger. What do you say for a client? This is what you need to think about before you decide to put an on a offer in.”

Advice from Nicolas Fry for Charter Guests

“My advice is always look at the crew that is on board instead of looking at the boat that is appealing because of its design or because of its features. I think the reality of the enjoyment comes from the crew and the experience that they deliver when you are on board. So, generally that’s why we also participate with the boat to all these charter shows for the brokers to come on board to meet with the crew, see what level of service there is on board, see what food they serve on board, see what water toys they have and  all the enjoyment that they can provide to their clients. So look first look for this information not for the technical details or the price of the boat it’s mainly the quality of the crew on boat.”

Strong Crew Relationships With Guests: The Key to Repeat Charters

“I think that’s a great piece of advice, because we know from previous charter guests that especially when they come with families they will get like the deck hands that take them out with the water the toys, they built some kind of a personal relationship. That’s when you get a lot of repeat charters as well right because people said like it was not only the vessel I like it was also the crew that gave me this amazing experience are they still there.”

“I think is that a question that you receive is it still the same crew still on board for repeat, but that’s the only way to get repeat clients, is to keep the crew on board the same crew.”

“Well thank you so much, Nicholas it was very entertaining you’ve a lot of insight. Well let’s see if we can have a little look around the boat!”

“For sure, thank you!”