Moving Forward with Venuerific is a brand new series featuring our partner venues and the people behind the venues. We aim to go a little further, bringing you the interesting stories behind the inception of these unique venues. We will also find out how these venues have evolved over the years, through the pandemic, with digital transformation in the forefront of their strategies.
We kick off our series with The Yacht Club. “Keep it fresh and keep it going. It is not a race but a marathon,” is what Eugene Chong and his two partners believe in. Recognising the trend seven years back as they started their venture, the trio now manage 20 yachts in various sizes. Some of the yachts under their portfolio include this luxurious 450 Lagoon model dubbed as the Ocean Diva that fits up to 27 pax onboard at its maximum capacity and this 48′ power Catamaran that is perfect for intimate celebrations.
We caught up with Eugene and got some insight into The Yacht Club and what they’ve been busy with.
Tell us a little about yourself!
I am Eugene, one-third partner, of TYC Charters Pte Ltd.
How did you meet your business partners?
I was an army course mate with co-founder James Tan and poly mate with co-founder Alan Lim. James had initially gotten me to do up a website of the then yacht charter start-up and I initiated to partner up by designing the website for free.
At that time, Alan and I were partners in a web development agency and he agreed to do it as a side project with me. The rest you can say is history. =)
What is the story behind your venue?
We saw an increasing demand for yacht charters in Singapore. The Yacht Club Singapore (TYC) was set up to meet this demand. We have been in business for the past 7 years and are steadily growing our fleet and team every year.
What is one unique feature of your company that you are proud to share about?
We handle over 20 yachts in Singapore in all shapes and sizes. We are sure that we will able to provide you with a unique experience every time you charter a yacht from us.
Credit: The Yacht Club
Are there any criteria The Yacht Club use when selecting the yachts that you work with?
At the moment, we are very particular with the service standards of the yachts who would like us to market for them. So the main criteria would be a basic standard of service quality displayed by the Captain and crew for all new yachts.
Good interpersonal skills is very important when handling customers on charters, this will leave a good impression on the customers which will in turn increase the possibility of a return charter.
Currently what are the client base for the yachts ?
The current situation is very sensitive due to the pandemic. So, the client base for yachts now are mostly small families, small groups of friends. All these are groups of 5 person based on government directives.
We are seeing lots of family outings, small birthday parties, friends gatherings and bachelorette parties.
What is the most challenging aspect of running your venue during the pandemic & what did you learn from it?
During the Circuit Breaker period, we had to shut down for quite a long period of time. However, we managed to use this ‘break’ to iron out certain processes to enable a smoother booking experience for our present and future clients.
What are some of the changes you introduced after the circuit breaker?
Even in normal times, the crew will scrub the yacht to receive the next charter group. (But) now, the cleaning includes using NEA-approved cleaning agents to disinfect surfaces before the next charter.
How important was it to keep The Yacht Club digital-ready when you first started the company?
It was really important as most of our marketing these days are done online to attract customers, so the basic website and online booking (capability) is a must in all modern business set ups. It is imperative to be digital-ready for all businesses now I would say.
Tell us about your digital transformation journey to embrace the ‘New Normal’
We were already digital-ready before this but Venuerific gave us another option to reach out to more clients with their CRM and exciting marketing tools.
About The Yacht Club
The Yacht Club is a local yacht rental company that promises affordable luxury sailing experience to its customers in Singapore. To view the listings under The Yacht Club and send booking inquiries, click here.
For more information, visit The Yacht Club.
Venuerific lists more than 3,000 venues across Southeast Asia and provides an all-in-one Venue Management CRM Software for venue operators. The platform is also a pre-approved ICM vendor under IMDA SME GO digital programme in Singapore, a scheme that identifies Digital solutions to help small and medium businesses to transform and optimise their productivity through the use of Digital technology. The scheme also allow businesses to get up to 98%* support fund through the Productivity Solutions Grant and Skillsfuture Enterprise Credit. Visit this Page to find out how you can benefit by listing your venue on Venuerific.
