Simply Abu Dhabi XXXVI

1 6 9 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I I n 2019, superyacht brokerage house Camper & Nicholsons International announced a technology merger with Hong Kong-based nowboat.com to launch an online platform delivering bespoke experiences and data to industry stakeholders including owners, brokers, shipyards and guests. The platform has been designed by a dedicated team of software engineers in Camper &Nicholsons’ Monaco headquarters. By the fourth quarter of this year, it will be accessible across all platforms and devices distilling yacht intelligence including fuel usage, marina logs, staff profiles, search history and social media presence into one simple-to-use tool with solutions for all stakeholders including customers, yacht owners, brokers and captains. C&N is the oldest brokerag e firm, what is behind your decision to partner wit h nowboat.com? Paolo Casani: We are the oldest but the newest. We want to give the company a future as long as our past. We have 236 years of history; we have interpreted the changes in the market and are trying to organise the company with new tools and a new strategy to approach the market without losing the experience, human contact and human touch. So, we aim to use the digital charter platform technology in a different way to other brands. We are not looking to replace the experience of our brokers, but to enrich and improve the tools that they work with. So, you regard it to be more than just a digital charter platform, it’s effective datamanagement? Casani: Yes, we believe that you can’t replace the experience of people, it’s an underlining value of C&N, but in the end technology is a tool that we can use. So, the tools are to improve our performance. But technology cannot replace personal relationships that have been built up over the years. We are in a niche market, and face to face remains very important. But we can use technology to speed up operations, to improve the process of new enquiries, and to get in touch with a new generation of owners. Our level of customer service, however, remains at an exceptionally high level and can only be provided by people. Giovanni Alessi: C&N are a service provider, and this spans across both our existing clients and new. But we know that the new generation of owners and charterers approach the industry differently – they approach a charter or yacht manager through new devices and by using digital solutions. So, if brokerage houses want to survive through the digital era they need to have a strategy for the digital world, and that means having people inside your company who have the confidence and competence to integrate new technology as it unfolds on the market. This means developing and delivering solutions for both our clients, and our team. So, it is necessary to have that kind of knowhow within the company’s overall solutions.