Megayacht News Radio
Megayacht News Radio introduces luxury-yacht enthusiasts to the leading shipyards, premier design studios, and even superyacht owners who bring cruising dreams to life. As the official podcast of MegayachtNews.com, we feature real stories of real interest, helping American yacht owners and their representatives make better-informed decisions when it comes to commissioning and using their yachts.
Megayacht News Radio
Luxury at Sea: The Art of Creating Unique Yacht Charter Experiences
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Prepare to be transported into the world of luxury yacht charters as we enjoy an insightful conversation with Nicole Haboush. As the senior charter broker manager for TJB Super Yachts and the head of its Florida office, Nicole has an extraordinary professional journey to draw upon, starting in a modest cubicle in a leading American superyacht shipyard. She shares her expertise on the significance of building relationships and patterned attention to detail, which has earned her respect among her clients.
As we dive beneath the surface of luxury yacht charters, Nicole talks about the importance of going the extra nautical mile. Ceating unforgettable experiences for clients means personalizing services in a wide range of ways. This includes in-depth research into emerging destinations--including ones rarely visited by superyachts. We also uncover the impact of reality shows like Below Deck on yacht charter. Nicole underscores how these portrayals have actually heightened the popularity of yacht charters. In fact, she says they invite more people to experience this luxury vacation.
Tune in for a captivating peek into the yacht charter business, and discover how it's further an incredible job opportunity.
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Welcome everybody. Having covered the yachting industry for about 30 years now which I swear is just not possible, but I digress I have met a wide variety of people and been able to follow their careers. One of these people is Nicole Habouche, who currently is the senior charter broker manager for TJB Super Yachts and she also heads the company's Florida office. Now, when Nicole and I first met, she, I believe, was the office manager of a super busy American builders brokers division and Nicole will definitely correct me if I'm wrong, but over the years she continued to work with more super busy yacht sales and charter teams and she also ran her own company for many years. All the while, she has earned the confidence of yacht owners and charter guests due to her attention to detail and, of course, just as important, a genuine smile. Now, because Yacht Charter is evolving rapidly these days and there are a lot of first-time clients and some extraordinary new destinations, nicole is here to share some insight. So, nicole, welcome to Meggy at news radio.
Speaker 2:Thank you, diana. I'm excited to be here, very wonderful to have this opportunity.
Speaker 1:Oh, of course, I'm glad to have you Now. Was I right that it was the Yacht Burgurage division at the shipyard? It was Broward, right, broward.
Speaker 2:Marine. So this is funny, diane. I literally started in the shipyard and I had never been in a shipyard, let alone Broward, which is you know. Back then it was like the shipyard and my grandfather was a captain on boats from Norway, but big freight ships, so we never really were in the yacht sector. Our family my dad, would have a summer in Cape May and there was no yachts, there was beach tennis, shopping, so it was walking in a shipyard as my first interview and we had a cubby office where I had the interview and I got the job, not knowing we were going to a beautiful brokerage office off of 17th Street causeway, but I said yes to literally working in a cubicle in the yard.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Back then wearing like full-blown suits, stockings, because I went to a business school in Boston so I was prepared to look professional and I think they saw the beachy side of me under that and they said this girl would fit in because she can mix with both.
Speaker 1:Right, right, that's great. I love it. I always love to hear the stories of how people started in the industry, and I didn't even know that aspect of how you got the job, so that's terrific, yeah, so then, how did you make the transition from that into charter? What convinced you that that was the right way to go?
Speaker 2:One day Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, called to charter a yacht and he called Broward, the main number, and we got it transferred to the brokerage. So I worked for four yacht brokers and somehow they decided to give me the call and they said you can book this charter. And I thought to myself, okay, I'll make a few phone calls because I was familiar with charter companies and I called a friend of mine that I think told me who to call and I got the information I needed to book a charter. This person did get half the commission. So you know, it was for me the best piece of commission I've ever given in my life, because it started my career, because I was really good dealing with the client and it didn't happen right away when I started at Broward. So the best part was that I got to learn how to deal with people. Like they sent me to the rendezvous the owner's rendezvous I got to speak with yacht owners, speak with brokers, so I knew how to talk to people at that point and when Jerry Jones's wife called I was able to give her information in a professional way that sounded like I knew what a boat and a yacht was and the rest of it just came together, with the help of the broker that helped me and the crew on the yacht, of course. So they booked with me three years in a row.
Speaker 2:But after the first booking the owner of Broward, ken Denison, said I think we should do an ad. Hence we started doing the ad with my picture. It was Connect the Dots and we had a really good ad agent at the time. Mel Wolf was really good and he did this cool ad with my picture. And our assistant, who actually was the woman that placed me in the job, started working with me as an assistant. So she was in the ad picture and the call started coming in for charters. So some of the Broward yacht owners were booking their yachts through management companies. So occasionally I would get to book one of the Browards to a client, which was a man, and then maybe they would buy a boat from one of our brokers, right, sure. So they looked there because they're like, wow, she's helping us out, get these people on these yachts and get excited.
Speaker 1:Right, right. Well, it's all about. You know, it really underscores how it's all about, first and foremost, relationships. Any business really is very relationship-oriented, but yachting particularly is because you not only need to know the right people, but you need to give the owners, especially, that comfort level and the clients who are booking the charters that comfort level that you're going to take care of them, that you understand what they want and everything is going to work out. So you just had that natural gift to be able to do all that.
Speaker 2:It sounds like yes and it was because of the fact that Broward let us go into these events and mingle with our client, because if I wasn't able to do that, I don't think I would know how to speak to this high end Dallas Cowboy team owner's wife, and Lenny Vaughn talked to her on her jet and it would have been overwhelming to me, so I was thrown into it and I was comfortable that they were just another person.
Speaker 1:Right, right, that's awesome. I love that. So when it comes to charter, these days, when you're working with clients, do they tend to have the destination in mind already and then maybe even a few ideas of activities and then you add that big wow factor to the whole experience for them? Or are they contacting you with no real preset ideas and want to know what their options are?
Speaker 2:Well, we get calls from both, so the first would be the person that knows exactly what he wants to do. He sat down with his family. I would say that we are getting more of those calls because there's more awareness of yacht chartering in the industry. So when they call us, they might have had a friend that said we had this great vacation and they have been referred to go call a charter broker because they had a great experience. Sometimes it could be a referral that I booked, but most of the time they just heard about it. And then they go online and they find a yacht that they like. And that's how it usually starts where the call comes in, where we just capture them about a boat. They love what this boat looks like and what it offers.
Speaker 2:So the internet has helped us tremendously because they can do all their homework and sometimes they know more than we know about what's available for their dates. There's so many websites that can even do their own scan and then let us know what both they like. So when they call us, they're like we want this boat because it has a jacuzzi, it has wave runners, it has all the latest toys, the sea bobs, they've got diving. So I actually am really pleased to know that they've done their research and they know what they want. There are a few clients that are green to it. They're not into the internet usually the older clients that they want to do it the old school way where we have to really walk them through everything. But I don't mind that because I've been doing that part. That was easy from my earlier years in booking charters. So to be honest, I really enjoy like getting them excited about a certain boat instead of them telling me what boat they should be on.
Speaker 1:There's probably a little bit of an element of surprise in that too, where you can kind of give them that like oh, by the way, this particular boat might be really nice, but there's this other boat and that crew's got a great attitude. They love to sit with the guests or they love to show you new destinations, great little coves. So they kind of feel like, oh, that's wonderful, oh, that's perfect for us, something they would not have otherwise known for sure?
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely, and of course the big thing is when they call about a destination, they usually don't realize that the Bahamas is just as nice as, let's say, st Barthes or St Martin. So then I will let them know. By the way, did you know that Bahamas is only a half hour from Florida and it's a great spot? We have more options there. So if they don't like the options in the Caribbean, then I mentioned other destinations that I think that they could enjoy, and that's happened a lot where I've convinced clients to do the Bahamas. Where the Caribbean, there are less boats there to offer or there's such a popular spot that they're all booked.
Speaker 1:Right, right, you know I'm glad you brought up destinations because I definitely wanted to ask you what some of the current destinations trends are, because I know there's a lot of different things going on, especially in terms of off the beaten places. But even, like you were saying, with the Bahamas, there's so much to do and people may not even realize it.
Speaker 2:Right, they think it's like one island where there's a casino Paradise Island, nassau and they don't realize that you could do five different trips to the Bahamas and with being on a yacht you're not going to be bored, because they do the beach picnics. They have all these secret coves that you wouldn't know about. But as far as off the beaten path, I did book the Yacht Gilamot and it was in the Indian Ocean. So this was their schedule they did the Red Sea in May and then they did they're going to go to Thailand in January, february, the Maldives March to April and they'll do the Mediterranean from June to September and the Caribbean in December.
Speaker 2:So that particular yacht is doing off the beaten path trips and it's really exciting that I booked one and it went really well and it was in the Solomon Islands. Wow, that was a tremendous hit. They had a lot of dives, the group was an exploration company and their largest donor wanted to treat the company on a trip. Oh nice. So these people that work in the office got to go, but they know the islands like the back of their hands, so they were actually helping the captain and the largest donor was a very well-known person that they had a great time. In fact, the charter manager used the reference in their next email blast to promote the yacht to other charter brokers and I didn't even know that I was looking it up today so I could talk about it. And I happened to like put in the name in my email and I saw that last month she sent this out to all the charter managers that the client said that they would use me again and would definitely charter the boat again.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic. I love it. Yeah, what an experience it must have been for that team too. From the the.
Speaker 2:The generousness of the donor, yes, yes, they had a expert person on board, but the captain, captain Max, he was incredible. They were just raving about him. So he really did the area and I think these captains get bored with the same old Caribbean Mediterranean. So the more charters they can get in the off the beaten path area, I think it really it just like invigorates them.
Speaker 1:I can absolutely see that. Yeah, and it's not that the Indian Ocean, all those destinations, those are certainly not the most popular, and I don't mean that to sound like it's not somewhere people want to go. It's just people don't even realize that that's an option. So it's so great that they're out there and they're not necessarily pioneering, but they're seeing places that not many yachts are going to. They're experiencing things that people maybe are not accustomed to experiencing. So it's all new, not just for the crew, but it'll be new for so many customers too.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and this customer they could have taken. They couldn't take their own boat because their boat was too big and they had to take a yacht like Gilemon because their, their yacht is like a ship Right, right, yeah.
Speaker 1:So they can't get into some of the coves and some of the areas that they would have wanted to.
Speaker 2:Right, hence Terry Jones. He owns a big ship. Now there could be times where he wants to go to a place like that and he couldn't bring his yacht.
Speaker 1:Yeah there you go, he knows who to call now. Yeah, so when we talk about charter, I know some people don't like to talk about it, the below deck effect, so to speak. You and I have discussed this and I know that you've seen the impact it's had on yachting in a very positive way, as a matter of fact, and some people, I realize, don't like to talk about it because they feel that it's not the best reflection of yachting. But I argue, and I would love to hear your views on this I argue that it has shown far more people far more opportunities in terms of how to see the world and really how to experience a different type of vacation. It's certainly from the conversations I've had with a few charter brokers and some captains too, it's brought some newcomers to the industry. So what's your experience been?
Speaker 2:like yes, exactly what you're saying, and I know we talked about it a little bit last week. When I reflect on the calls I'm getting, there are more first time charters than I've ever spoken to in the last few years. It's totally because of this show. This is something that everybody now knows. It's been on for years now. So even if you didn't watch it, you know you've passed by the advertisement for it. I mean, I mean on Bravo, it's huge channel.
Speaker 2:So I think that the guests will have more of an idea of what to expect to instead of just oh, we're afraid or we don't know. And is this like a mini cruise ship? And do we have to do most of the same questions? Do we have to do a set itinerary? When you watch the show, you clearly know that they have to do what the captain does in the end because of weather, but they're going to all of these wonderful places that they want to go to, and some people might want a few ports less than another group. And I think that's what below deck has shown is that it is a totally personalized vacation where the crew attend to your every whim.
Speaker 2:Yes, the crew on the shows all are, you know, having issues, but that's part of the drama. The client doesn't necessarily ever know about that, true? And if they do, then I think they're not having enough fun on the charter. That means they're bored. They shouldn't know any of this. They should be so busy that they can barely find time to call a friend you know to tell them about it or take a picture. That's how busy the crew are. Keeping them busy, right?
Speaker 1:right, very true. So when you're getting the phone calls from the people perhaps some of the people who've seen below deck, but the first timers in general what is it like? Working with them Is is, um, what's their post trip feedback really like? Is it that it blew their mind more than they even thought it would?
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, this has been. That's the best part of my job. It's not a job when you get these incredible messages. They're not even off their charter. That's happened a lot this past six months and they were all first time charters and it was the most exciting moment to get like a text from a boat saying this is the best trip I've ever had. I can't wait to book the next. I've had clients on the charter already asking me to send them information on the next charter and it's something that they really didn't know how amazing it was.
Speaker 2:And they spent all of their vacations doing other things, like safaris or ski trips or, you know, they've been renting villas. There's nothing like a yacht charter, which you and I both know, being in the industry, that the biggest thing in the age of social media is if they have kids. Usually those are my best clients because if they have kids, they are so happy that their kids put their phone down, right, right. That's a good point. And the vacation our family's ever had, because we were all captive on one boat together. It's not like in a hotel. You know, you're kind of doing your own thing, but you all have to wake up and you all have to be eating from the same galley, where they're all cooking and they're all going to have one area where they serve you. So for that point alone, it could be couples. They're spending more time together, families are spending more time together on this vacation and that, in the end, is what everybody wants is to be more connected.
Speaker 1:Really good point. It's so true. There was a yacht I was on a few years ago where it was actually owned by a grandmother and I wanted to be adopted by her so badly when I saw the yacht because it was fabulous. But she did something that I thought was so brilliant in every room so the salon, the sky lounge, everything she had special storage created for everybody's iPhones and you know, and androids of course, and it was, there were little plugs in there and it was OK when we're together, everybody, whether you're a mom, grandma or the kids, everybody's phones went away and they had family time and it was magical, the stories that they told and the stories the crew told about how everybody was talking. The little ones were saying Grandma, grandma, we just saw a fish or a shark or what have you.
Speaker 2:It was fantastic, that's a fabulous idea. That's like the table. I see them in restaurants where everybody has to put their phone in the bowl in the middle of the table.
Speaker 1:Mm, hmm, Yep, Yep, Yacht Charter is so perfect to make that happen. Everybody's just like you said they're having way too much fun to be thinking about. Oh, I need to put this on Instagram, Of course. They've taken lots of pictures and probably in the back of their head they're thinking oh, I can't wait to upload this to.
Speaker 2:Instagram, right, but if you have a really good crew, guess what the crew do? They are the ones that are taking the pictures, which, if I chartered a yacht, that would be. My first request is who can be taking our photos and videos so we don't have to have our phone in our hands. You know, this way we won't feel like we're not going to get to go look back at it. But a lot of the crew now on the bigger yachts they do like movies for the guests At the end of the charter. There's a movie about the charter.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's great, that's terrific. That way, everybody has the memories and when they're watching it together, oh, remember that. Oh, that was so cool. Yes, exactly, yeah, I like that. They're so talented. Some of the videos that the crew do and some of the photos that they take oh my gosh, they're. They should be a national geographic, some of these images.
Speaker 2:But that gives them a little edge over other yachts when they're doing that. It's not we're just giving them a photo album. Like in the old days they used to give them photo albums, now it's a video.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's great. I like that. So also, when you and I were speaking recently, you were talking about how food has become an even bigger part of the whole charter experience. It's impossible to to walk away even after day one of a charter and not rave about the food. So how has it become a bigger deal now?
Speaker 2:People are more into food than ever because of all of the shows, as you know, we just mentioned regarding below deck that's showing them what's going on in the galley and the types of meals that these guests are being served. It's very clear when you watch the show and just the fact that the celebrity chefs they're having all these shows on Food Network Now I think more people are into food, especially like good, organic ingredients. There are real foodies out there that really like the farm to table. They're more involved in what they're putting in their body because of health and everybody in our generation I think is more aware of, you know, packaged or fresh. So they are looking at the food in a different way, where I also think we have the capability from a lot of shows to learn how to cook gourmet ourselves. So we definitely want to eat something tremendously unique that we wouldn't ourselves even cook. So that kind of gives the chef a really large mountain to climb to reach that, that palette that's gonna just make them feel so excited that they've never tasted it before.
Speaker 1:Right, right, yeah, chefs, the repertoire that they need to have is so extraordinary and so wide, and yet one week there could be a family that is maybe vegetarian. Next week there could be people who will eat pretty much anything you put on a plate. The week after that there may be people with food allergies, and they just roll from one to the next Right Simultaneously, without blinking. And I know there's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes, but their repertoires are just so impressive.
Speaker 2:It really is. I think that being on a yacht gives them the most ability, the largest ability to use their imagination to, because you're not having to fit a menu in a restaurant. That, to me, says so much that there's a great part of being a chef on a yacht that you're able to use your creativity in unimaginable ways that you couldn't if you were in a restaurant and the owner knows what's gonna sell, what's not gonna sell. This is different. This is cooking for families that probably most of them have their own chef at home and they're going to want to show them the local flavors of, let's say, they're, in Croatia. They want to do dishes that would give them that feeling and they're not going to feel like we missed out. We should have gone to the restaurants, right, right.
Speaker 1:Now I know we have certainly inspired some people in terms of learning what charter options are available. We sometimes have really interesting questions from people who want to understand the career opportunities in yachting, so I would love to get your take on what people should do if they are considering a charter career, even a brokerage career. What are some of the things that people should bring to the table in terms of the experience and the attitude?
Speaker 2:I definitely think the crews on the yachts. That's a nice step if you work on a yacht and you'd like to be more land-based although there's a lot of travel as a charter or yacht broker if you want there to be. So they could go to a lot of the charter shows or fam trips, depending on how well they're doing. But I would say that if somebody works on a yacht and they are thinking more of a desk job, you have to really be okay with being on your laptop quite a bit. Again, it could be more mobile.
Speaker 2:You don't have to be stuck to a desk and an office is much anymore, but there's a lot of time spent emailing, so you do have to like that aspect of work. If you don't like being organized and there's not a great assistant that they're giving you, it's going to be a struggle. No matter how much you love boats and how much I love talking to people, you really do need to enjoy the time emailing and sending options, because a lot of it is going to be paper, like emails, where they're going to be looking at pictures of boats online yeah, a lot of follow up for sure with people and being prepared to address questions.
Speaker 1:anticipate the questions. Sure, yeah, lots and lots of follow up, but that's important, that's what people need. They need somebody who's going to be ready for them and can be anticipating the questions that they're going to be asking. Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2:You have to be a little bit of everything as a charter broker. I'm also a yacht broker. I'm the yacht broker of record for TJB Super Yachts in the United States. That actually would require me to show boats more than I normally would. As a charter broker we don't really show as many boats because it's too hard to write, but as a yacht broker you do have to travel around a little bit more to show the yachts. So that could be maybe something that those people that don't want to sit at the desk as often perhaps a yacht broker they'd be showing a lot more of the product than a charter broker would.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, they would have the opportunity to learn more about the different builders too and the different layouts. Yeah Right, yeah. Different options for different people. Hopefully somebody, some people listening, are going to feel a little bit more educated. Well, nicole, thank you so much for joining us today on Meggy at News Radio. It has been really good catching up and hearing your insights into what's going on in charter, these great new destinations Gosh, the Indian Ocean. That's got to go in my bucket list.
Speaker 2:It was much fun, Diane. Yeah, I could talk much longer, so that's great that the half hour went so fast.
Speaker 1:It always goes by fast, definitely goes by fast. Well, everybody, if you would like to learn more about Nicole and the team at TJB Superyachts, you can visit their website, which is tjbsuperyachtscom. Until next time, I'm Diane Byrne.
