The boat rental market in France

Boating is becoming increasingly popular, with nearly four million pleasure boaters and almost 11 million water sports enthusiasts.

It was during the 19ᵉ century that this practice developed with the deployment of railway lines that enabled the French to get to the coasts more easily. Then in the 20ᵉ century, the practice of pleasure boating intensified thanks to the rise of the motorboat and the democratization of water sports making these activities accessible to a larger public.

This growth in leisure activities accelerated the development of boat rental.

Pleasure boats rented by private individuals can be divided into two different types: motorboats and sailing boats , as well as the increasingly popular catamarans.

The rental business is based on three different business models:

Rental from professionals to private individuals

management-rental via specialized agencies

private hire via online platforms

The global rental market has been experiencing relative growth in recent years, with an estimated CAGR of almost 5% between 2019 and 2027.

The market is relatively concentrated aroundlarge European players. Similarly, boating and yachting activities are logically concentrated in a few specific geographical areas, such as the PACA region, the Atlantic coast and Corsica.

The yacht charter market is booming, and boating is gradually becoming more democratic, even if it still seems inaccessible to a large proportion of the French population. Industry players are trying to encourage this trend, with marketing campaigns promoting the affordability of this leisure activity, and offering new services such as seminars and team-building activities at sea.

Above allhe traditional pleasure boating offer is modernizing and attracting new players, facilitating access to boating for a greater number of people. This is reflected in the development of online rental platforms that enable private individuals to rent boats for relatively short periods.However, the latter still face competition from the traditional players, the rental management agencies.