Simply Abu Dhabi XXXVI

1 7 0 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I What demographic are, and will, use the online charter apps? Alessi: I think both old and new will use the platforms, and it’s already like that. From a charter perspective it all needs to be streamlined. It will still be managed by C&N but using a new set of digital tools to enhance the experience. The market is demanding a digital revolution. Our older clients still like to have all the information that they require in one easy to access place, and that requires creating a digital solution that can facilitate this. How does nowboat.com differ from other online competito rs? Alessi: nowboat.com has been developed to empower small to medium charter companies, but for C&N a higher set of solutions are being developed. Superyachts require a level of service and communication that can’t be provided by a digital platform. Other platforms out there tend to cut out the broker, but that is not what we’re doing. What nowboat.com was doing historically is to develop communication tools for brokers, payment methods, e- contract signatures and marketing solutions to assist the process. It’s a completely opposite model to, say for example, Airbnb. Casani: The technology that we have acquired is not only a charter platform, it’s a global technology and will be used by C&N to completely restructure the yacht database and all the tools that we use. So, it’s a global project, including a team of highly professional people. Giovanni is the founder of nowboat.com, but alongside him we also now have five engineers working in-house to develop C&N’s new digital infrastructure. It’s a very ambitious global project and goes far beyond simply booking on an online platform. That’s why we are hugely different from other platforms, and why it holds so much value for our company. How will this acquisition benefit C&N? Alessi: Having the chance to work with a team of developers has allowed us to develop a specific digital solution for our team and brokers during Cannes and MYS. We’re creating on-demand tech solutions that we are now able to implement in a very short amount of time, whereas previously we would have had to outsource to external agencies. Building an in-house team makes us more efficient and effective, delivering an enhanced service to both our brokers and our clients.