While digital tools were already nearly ubiquitous before the pandemic struck, COVID-19 accelerated their adoption exponentially across multiple industries. The recreational boating world was no different.

In the last two years, more people sought the great outdoors to reconnect with nature and to avoid crowds, resulting in a massive surge in recreational boating. That trend shows no signs of slowing down. With an increased demand for docking space, many existing marinas cannot accommodate both local boats and frequent inbound visitors. 

But the boating industry is rapidly adapting.

Many marinas have jumped aboard the digital revolution, transforming how they communicate with boaters. In fact, marinas now prefer that boaters communicate digitally. Texting with marinas is becoming as simple as texting your mom and marina booking platforms are becoming widely used by your average sailor.

The best boaters in the world like to be prepared, so obtaining a quote in advance and booking a reservation provides a level of certainty that’s invaluable. In addition, by enabling boaters to submit paperwork digitally and to pay online, digitization has streamlined the reservation process for both boaters and marinas alike.  

Skip Sorenson, CEO at Century Boats, expressed without a doubt that “in order to bring the boating industry to the forefront, there must be a mind shift. The focus needs to be on the customer experience. We need to understand how to make boating more accessible and less costly for customers.”

That mind shift is already occurring as the trend towards adopting digital tools continues to grow with the consumer in mind. For example, it’s not uncommon for sailing plans to change. By building the right amount of flexibility into the reservation process, boaters feel comfortable with advanced booking. In fact, the customer experience for boaters has reached a whole new level on many fronts now some marina booking platforms offer one central place to communicate, submit paperwork, reserve, pay and cancel.  

The top-ranking marinas have already made online booking a standard. And there’s no turning back.

But online berth reservations are more than just a tool providing convenience and accessibility to boaters and marinas alike. This new level of simplicity in planning is enabling existing marinas to be more eco-friendly and reducing the need for new marina construction. Going digital has enabled both marinas and boaters to protect Earth’s most valuable resource — the ocean.

With traffic monitoring, marina data sources, AI, and machine learning working together, boaters can plan better and marinas can reach a global audience to grow their business. It may sound techy and complicated, but for the user, it’s as simple as a tap.

Digital tools are clearly changing the way the boating industry does business… for good.

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About the Author:

This article was contributed by Pick a Pier.

Over the past two years, the online marina reservation platform Pick a Pier has been helping hundreds of marinas and thousands of boaters to communicate in Europe. Pick a Pier allows boaters to easily inform their local marina when they plan to leave and return to their berth. Beyond complying with marina and local regulations, this also ensures the berthing space is available and ready for the boater upon return. Making marina reservations in the UK, Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Greece, and other destinations has never been simpler. Your booking request goes directly to the marina who reply promptly with availability and price. Fast, simple, and no hassle.

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The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of Noonsite.com or World Cruising Club.