The pandemic spurred a "massive spike" in yacht sales, said Richard Allen, chief operating officer of the Hong Kong-based yachting company Simpson Marine.
"Some have actually really enjoyed the boating lifestyle, and are already upgrading … to bigger boats," he said. But, Casani said, the pace is "less than expected" for many reasons, including culture, lifestyle and lack of infrastructure.Allen said the disparate and onerous "rules and regulations" in the region are thwarting progress.
"We need to do a lot of lobbying with governments to make it easier to import boats," said Allen. "There's a lot of lobbying groups like ICOMIA … that are working much more collaboratively with the different dealers to have a voice to government."