Yachting Industry In Turkey Becomes Global Megayacht Player

Turkey has sailed ahead of many European countries as a leader in the megayacht building and marketing race, as remarkable growth in the yachting sector showed Turkey ranking third among Europe’s largest producers of megayachts, following Italy and the Netherlands. Business in the local sector has reached an annual volume of 300 million euros.

“Turkey ranks third in the world regarding yacht orders overall in 2010. Italy tops with a market share of 37%, followed by the Netherlands with 11% and Turkey with 9%,” Sonay Günay, the owner of 777 Yacht Group Company, a Turkish marketing company for megayachts.

The 777 Yacht Group is an exclusive broker for the F45 megayacht, a model worth 36 million euros produced in the 167-year-old Dutch Feadship Royal Van Lent shipyard that has manufactured more than 2,200 boats and over 126 megayachts.

Turkey has 8,333 kilometers of coastline and there are about 360 registered boat and yacht producers, according to the country’s Yacht and Boat Industry Federation, or YATEF. The figure is 1,200 for the United States, 950 for Italy, 412 for Germany and 400 for the United Kingdom, according to data published on the federation’s website.

Only a few marinas are suitable for anchoring a megayacht in Turkey, according to Günay, who said serious infrastructure investment must be made in this direction. “Megayachts coming from abroad remain obliged to anchor in open sea when they do not find a suitable place along Turkey’s coast. This negatively affects tourism, because they enjoy the beauty of our bays but cannot get inland.”

Yachts For Sale in Turkey