Željko Baotić: The Vision Behind Dalmatia Boat Show’s Rising Success

This April, Marina Baotić hosted another – second annual – Dalmatia Boat Show, with significantly more exhibitors than the first one, and also with an international flair. The organizer of the most professional Croatian boat show gathered the movers and shakers of the mid-size market segment, following his vision of their importance on the Croatian market.

ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE 2025 SHOW?

After the fantastic 2022 and 2023, all of us in the charter segment fell a drastic drop in interest in 2024, which in charter means fewer booked weeks and lower prices, and we also saw up to 40 percent fewer new boat sales results. Despite that, my team managed to book 30 percent more exhibitors than last year. Our efforts last year have not been in vain, and this year we have welcomed many international exhibitors in addition to regional and local ones, which is a great sign. 

WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF THE SHOW? 

Now we know who our main exhibitors are, as we have confirmed participation of all the major Croatian dealers. We do our best in presenting boats between 10 and 15 meters, and possibly larger are coming, but that will depend on whether dealers already have availability and if the yachts are ready. We are well aware we exist in a pyramid and operate in its middle, where all the brands already have their dealers. We certainly have one thing going for us: we can easily expand the show, as we own the marina. The show can grow up to 20 percent without any problems.

HOW DO YOU SEE THE FUTURE OF YACHTING, CONSIDERING THE MENTIONED SLOWDOWN?

It is crucial for the really important players to be alert, as that always influences the market favorably. They are the first to see changes on the market, the first to see when something needs adapting, for example when they need to order less or order from a new brand or something similar. We have all been in the yachting business for over 25 years now and we can tell you people will not just stop cruising over night. People need to connect with the nature. People who live in big European cities don’t have enough contact with the nature, so they need their skiing and sailing trips. They don’t even see it as trips, more like returning to their nature. Rich people could always afford such trips, but now we’re lucky to have boats for almost every budget available for charter. We should never give up on connecting with the nature.

HOW ABOUT GERMANY?

Germans are a bit more cautious in general, and their rich individuals have almost certainly weathered a crisis or two. They know what they want, if they fall in love with a segment, they will never give up on the yachting Once you start selling more expensive brands, you understand how much money circulates in the German market. German buyers don’t finance their yacht purchases from their salaries, for some of them one million euros is pocket change. I like to say I have the best job in the world – I get to deal with people who have luxury problems, not survivol ones.

HOW IS BAOTIĆ YACHTING DOING THIS SEASON?

I am satisfied, quite well as can be expected considering we deal with strong brands. De Antonio boast beautiful design and great sales performance, Axopar is already well known, they make three to four models on every platform, all with unbelievable performance capabilities. You know about it very well from personal experience too.

YOU GOT EMOTIONAL DURING THE BOAT SHOW OPENING CEREMONY, WONDERING HOW MUCH LONGER THERE WILL BE CROATS IN CROATIA? 

Croatia is experiencing an obvious demographic slump. My grandfather had 14 children, 40 grandchildren, 68 great-grandchildren and 24 great-great-grandchildren. Since 1907, when my grandfather Josip was born, he and his wife Ana have created a clan 140-strong. Some of them emigrated to Canada, some to Mexico, some to Germany. 

My point here is – many have left, and we are a really small nation. There’s no pressure on us to emigrate, we have to be aware of both that and the current trends. It remains to be seen how we will assimilate all these newcomers, just like we got assimilated into other nations, adding many good things to our new countries, like in sports. We have to boost patriotism, for that is a rare sentiment around here. In Germany, some groups have no national sentiment, it got muted after World War II and has recovered, and now they’re basically ruining their own country. My biggest fear is seeing something like that happen here.