A travel trend of boat swapping is here for 2019 – an exciting first for the sailing world following in the footsteps of the successful home swapping model made popular by sites like Love Home Swap. Boataffair is a platform where holidaymakers are already able to connect with boat owners in over 40 locations from across the world, and anchor away on a bespoke sailing experience based on a sharing economy model. Now though, they can boat swap too and experience new locations and new boats – without the rental costs.
‘Swapping’ as well as sharing is a new trend in travel, pioneered by home-swapping and now available for boat owners, campervan and car owners… you can even swap hotel rooms or travel tickets.
So how does it work? It’s so simple and the boat owner is completely in control of the process. They decide who they want to accept for a boat swap and whether they want to be on board or not to host their guests. And it’s up to them if they swap for a day or an entire holiday. And the best part is that the scheme is free of charge for those who join in 2018. All boat owners have to do is sign up for free and get an unlimited number of boat swaps – anywhere in the world. Boataffair already have boat owners in their Boat Swapping Community in Australia, France, Greece, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the US, with more countries joining every week.
Within the Boataffair Boat Swapping Community, boat owners can communicate and ask each other any questions they like. It’s a completely transparent process. And it’s up to the owners themselves whether they wish to host people (with them on board) or if they would swap at the same time without them being on board themselves. There’s even a Boataffair coin system that means boat owners do not have to swap with each other. If you host somebody on your boat there is an option to either get hosted in exchange or receive Boataffair coins. Coins are then redeemable against further swaps.
Boat owners will love the opportunity to experience new boats in new countries, meet like-minded people and enjoy authentic experiences that aren’t in any guide book. And they’ll also get to show their guests what makes their own boating location so exceptional. And all with no rental costs, no bureaucracy and no hassle finding a boat to rent.
