We're so far away from the rest of the world, it is a long way away. But just like any other part of the world, there's some really unique experiences here from a boating and marine perspective. This is the Ben Taylor Podcast, the home of Marine Industry Insights. Enjoy. Hi, everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Ben Taylor Podcast. This is a little series to profile the yachting industry in the Australian region of the world. And today I'm here with Luke McCall from Zeal Mariners. Nice to see you, Luke. You too, Ben. So give us a little context. Who are you? What do you do? What's your thing? Yeah. So my business is called Zeal Mariners. Yeah. How it came about? My background is in marina and boatyard management. So essentially, think about a marina as a hotel on the water. Just like a hotel, you want to maximize occupancy. And there's a number of things you can do to do that. So it's customer service, your marketing, how you develop the business, benchmarking, so different marinas around the world, how are they doing it? You know, your different size vessels and how you attract them all the way up to super yachts. Yeah. So I've been doing that for a while with a focus on marketing and management. Right. So it's the advisory side. It's consulting and saying, look, from our experience and from best practices, this is what we'd advise doing to increase occupancy, increase revenue, diversify revenue streams, anything like that. Yeah. Yeah. And and that's my business now. But before that, I actually worked within the businesses as an employee. Right. So I started in marketing and business development. So understanding the marine industry in the market and, you know, what type of content is attracting people to come and stay at the marina. And then I moved into general management, which is the marketing. But also, how do you get the best out of your people to perform and provide a service that's different to, you know, others in the market? So I started up in the beautiful Whitsundays in Airlie Beach on the Great Barrier Reef, which has got its obvious kind of attractions for all size vessels. And they're seeing a huge amount of super yachts there now, both domestically and an increase in international. Wanting to go out and anchor off Whitehaven Beach or go snorkeling or go fishing. So I really didn't want to leave there, but my family was based in Brisbane and I wanted to start my own family. So I reached out to my network and then I went over to the shipyard. So the business, which is really good to understand the full life cycle of boat ownership. I was kind of really spending a lot of time with customers that were on holiday and enjoying their boat on the water when they get their spare time. But I guess perhaps the boat yard sort of things is where people, you know, it's it's a less glamorous bit. That's like the reality. It's a necessary evil. Yeah, it's the real side of it. Yeah. And, you know, you see a lot of boats that are that are not well maintained. And, you know, it's a part of what you need to do to make sure your vessel's ready. But it was great to understand the boat yard side of the business. Yeah. And I suppose they're often combined as well. Like it's not unusual to have a shipyard, a marina and combined services like all down here, just down the road from Sanctuary Cove. You can see it. They're all got the marinas, some is the spur thing, or whilst there's refit work going on and keep them in the water and all that. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And so there's some marina specific businesses. But, you know, just down the road here is the Coorima Marine Precinct, which I think you went and visited during the week. And yeah, it's amazing. Like it is a one stop shop for vessels of all sizes to come down and get access to hundreds of marine trade specialists, different size covered sheds from maintenance all the way through to refit. And I think that's why this this show has gone from strength to strength as well. And particularly since COVID, there's been a lot more younger demographic coming to boat ownership and coming to Southeast Queensland, where it's been quite good to be able to travel around during COVID. Queensland was kind of known as a bit of a loose state in Australia for allowing people to move around. But it was healthy. Some of those people got into boating and now you can see it. You can see on the water. Yeah, exactly. And, you know, it's just, yeah, this time of year on the Gold Coast in May is when a lot of the cruisers come from down south. They move through the Gold Coast, come and see the show, see supplies, get some maintenance done, and then they go up to the Sundays in Cairns to enjoy the boat. Yeah. And so and so what's the. You'll see a lot about what different marinas are doing and consider what's happening around the world. Is there anything in particular that's quite nuanced and as a bit of a focus for the Australian market that perhaps isn't elsewhere? Look, I think, I mean, if you think about Australia, this is a as a tourism destination internationally. It is a it is just a vast landscape of so many different experiences. And and particularly on the water, we've got the Great Barrier Reef. We've got beautiful beaches. You've got the you know, the capital cities that hold these, you know, international events every year. So from a tourism perspective, there's a there's a large draw card there. And then I think if you bring in the fact that our industry is now kind of moving towards enabling bigger yachts coming here to not only, you know, charter use privately, but also charter commercially. And that's a huge part of the growth for the super industry. Yeah. Yeah. Nationally. So, yeah. And now, obviously, the refit sector. So, you know, as you know, a super yacht, when they're looking at their next destination, it's what can we provide from an experience quite involved? Yeah, it sounds great. Like, oh, the only ones to go here. So, yeah, we're going to go there. Yeah. Actually, there's a huge amount of work and say, well, OK, well, what do we need to cruise in in that area from a regulatory perspective, support services, everything? Yes. Before they just like, you know, set off and arrive. Yeah. And Australia seems to be like historically maybe having having not quite so much services and support in the region now. It seems to be getting there. Yeah. Look, I think we're being a lot more proactive with our partners in the South Pacific to work together to explain what experiences are as a region cruising and refit. And, you know, with Super Yacht Australia, working with Fiji tourism and Tahiti, we're now seeing the benefit of going to shows overseas in the North Pacific Hemisphere to talk about South Pacific as a region. Right. Yeah. And then the idea is once they're down here, we go to their locations and we tell them specifically about the refit and the cruising. And we're getting better at that. And as a result of that, the awareness of captains and the, you know, the information and accessibility is coming down. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So and our capability is increasing. We're having more investment in boatyards, in super yacht facilities. You know, you've got the boat works that you went to. They spent millions of dollars over the last city marina. And I suppose you've got the facilities of Riviera building right next door to all those. Like the number one boat builder in Australia. And then you've got the likes of Southport Yacht Club that have got, you know, almost a 200 meter mega yacht load. So, yeah, the capability there is growing. And obviously we've got the Olympics. Everyone's probably talking about it with you on our doorstep. So it's a it's an unbelievable opportunity for us to really think about where is the super yacht trend going? What are these customers looking for? And how do we ensure that if they come here that we're leaving the legacy? Yeah. Yeah. Capitalize on it. Try and get them to stay here. Not just like kind of a short term thing, but get refit work done here. Like cruise around the South Pacific Islands and around Australia, not just for kind of a two week period and and carry on. Yeah. Stay here for a while. Make it a home port. Yeah. Yeah. And it's not just about that physical infrastructure or, you know, the destinations is a big part of it. But, you know, I think there's so much opportunity for our service side of the of the business to be at a at an international level. And that's, you know, when the vessels arrive, knowing exactly what they're going to be looking for whilst they're in and making them feel welcome and connecting them with some of our quality supplies so that when they're here, they feel welcome. They're getting good quality service. And in my heart, either stay or come back. Yeah, that's the most important thing. Whatever experience you're doing, it comes down to that service. And, you know, the genuine nature that someone goes to make you feel welcome and provide, you know, that Australian welcome. So and you want to talk about World Boating Day. Yes. What is it? What's about? Well, World Boating Day is one day every year where just like it's a happy day. Well, that's exactly right. I mean, quite, quite simply, I guess the the boating not not not in the smaller area, but across the industry, there probably is a perception, particularly in the larger end, that it's inaccessible. Right. I mean, it's only for a certain percentage of people. And that is quite fair. But I think it is evolving a little bit into things where just different models of going boating, like it's not necessarily exclusive ownership. There's shared ownership. There's now boat clubs, things like that. Yeah, that actually mean, you know, you don't have to be outrageously rich to be able to at least get on the water in something, in some kind of boat. I mean, yeah, OK, there's the large yachts out there. We're not going to have a huge amount of the population like charter an ATV to yacht. Yeah, but you can go kayaking, you can go surfing or get on a small day boat or just do something. Yeah. Yeah. And look, in the Australian industry, some of my friends that own bigger boats, if you talk, if you understand where they've come from and how they've grown up, they've started in a tinny on a river going fishing and it's just in their blood. And they've they've worked hard to go up to that next size. And I guess that whole message is that, you know, a lot of those bigger yachts you see around the world, people are working hard to to get to that point. And they're starting at the lower end and start small. So, yeah, it's this I always think of it as a sales funnel of boating, where it's like loads and loads of people access to boating. Just get out there. It's just like, you know, nothing that's going to fund the industry or support a huge amount of jobs. It's just a small engagement. But over time, it kind of nurtures this love for boating, this enthusiasm, love for the lifestyle and just everything around it. Yeah. And then that's what grows. And yeah. And yeah, people kind of progress through spending more time and more money on on boats. Yeah. And look, the the good businesses, exactly what you said, they nurture the customer and they've not only do they sell the boat, but they also create this lifestyle experience. So, you know, you buy this boat, but you also buy into a club of people that love being out in the water. You know, we love going for, you know, a flotilla down to a beautiful anchorage and they meet new people and then they understand different experiences and they think, well, we need a better boat or a different boat to be able to explore that different shore. You have to go shopping. Yeah. Yeah. So and I mean, essentially, that's what this boat show is about. But more importantly, back to World Boating Day is about raising awareness one day a year about the opportunities to get into boating at any level. And then what kind of things happen to to do that? So there's 70 events around the world that are happening this year. You know, Australia will start and then we'll move on to Europe and America. So, for example, in Australia tomorrow, we've got the Riviera Factory Tour. So it's never opened to the public. So they'll open their doors and allow the local community to go. No way, that's so cool. Understand how a Riviera, we could maybe go there tomorrow. If you want to go check it out. And the and I suppose that's that's good for like people discovering how to work in the industry as well. But they've been in shipyard. It's kind of like get young talent and people understanding that, you know, it takes a lot of work to build the boat. Yeah, it's a huge amount of employment. We need this skilled labor. It's almost like you planted some kind of seeds. You're kind of grabbing my lines. I was going to say, like, yes, you talk about it quite a lot. It's it's it's definitely getting into boating and experience it. But it's also the people. So, you know, if I if I if I aspire to be in the boating industry, there's careers in it. So, you know, if it's a naval architect or learning how to be a marine engineer. So, yeah, it's it's everything around boating. It's going out and getting on the water at any level. It's learning what a career could look like and to be involved as a business. Essentially, if you've got a business that you can invite people in to to see what boating's about, whether it be a career, a factory tour tomorrow. Actually, the Southport Yacht Club are going to do a learn to sail family fun day. So they'll invite people in the local community to come down and just try their hand at sailing. And it is all about just opening the doors, raising awareness, breaking down that accessibility perception, perhaps so that on that day, every year organically, it becomes part of every boating business to activate and build awareness on that day. And also known for local communities a day that they can jump online and check out what local cool events are happening. And you just get more involvement and participation. OK, that's awesome. And for the for the international industry, what's kind of the key message that you that you hope the rest of the world, the rest of the industry understands about the Australian yachting industry, the market down here? Oh, look, from a World Boating Day perspective, to start with, I think it's just like the concept of compounding interest. You know, the more we get people on board and talking about it over time everywhere, then, yeah, the the boating industry as a whole grows. Yeah. And it's a sustainability message, right? It's about, you know, I've just started a business in in this sector and I want to see it still here in 20 years. So I want to invest my time in making sure more people know about are involved because that that is my business. And essentially, that's the interest that every boating business around the world should see. And it is that if we get involved and talk about it more, it becomes more of a natural benefit. Yeah. Flow in from the bottom. And from an Australian perspective, you know, the more Australian businesses that we can get on board showcasing what they do, whether it be a career or, you know, jumping on board as a crew on a superyacht to, you know, servicing an outboard on a. Yeah, we're just kind of being recognized as like a world class source of talent, of cruising grounds, boating destination, all these kind of things. That's that's kind of the hope. That's the mission, the target. Yeah. And look, we're so far away from the rest of the world. It is a it is a long way away. But just like any other part of the world, there's some really unique experiences here from a from a boating marine perspective, and it's really just an invite to come and come and see what we've got to offer and then go and tell the rest of the world that it's just an undiscovered place. Yeah. Come and come and experience it. Come and engage with the industry. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. It was awesome to have you here as well in Australia. Yeah. No, thanks for having me. And thanks for coming on the podcast. Thank you for your insights. And it's I love the the direction of the mission. It's not just kind of, you know, me, me, me, we do this. And this is this is our business. Come and come and buy a product or a service. Yeah, it's a bigger picture. There's a lot more to it. You know, this isn't about the next sale. This is about five, 10 years time. How does it grow? How does everyone benefit? And that's part of why the industry is so, so good. There's a lot of people and the missions that some organizations have. That's awesome. Yeah, no problem at all. Pleasure. Everybody, thank you for listening here on the Ben Taylor podcast. All being well. We'll see you again on another on another episode. This one was with Luke from Seagull Marinas. All being well. We'll see you next time. Bye for now. See you guys. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Ben Taylor podcast, the home of marine industry insights. We'll see you again very soon. Bye for now.