Atlantis sees potential in expansion of Malta marinas
The vice-president of Atlantis, a subsidiary of the leading Italian power boat manufacturer Azimut Benetti Group, sees potential in the development of Malta marinas - and she claims she is not alone. Carla Demaria, who navigates the top echelons of...
The vice-president of Atlantis, a subsidiary of the leading Italian power boat manufacturer Azimut Benetti Group, sees potential in the development of Malta marinas - and she claims she is not alone.
Carla Demaria, who navigates the top echelons of the luxury motor and mega yachts business - predominantly a man's domain - says Malta is considered an interesting market from the yachting point of view, not only by Azimut, but also other boat builders.
"In this magnificent country, I would create many more marinas. For me, this is a marvellous place to grow the business.
"After all, a quality marina, which is well managed and offers the required services, would attract people from everywhere. Even China is creating marinas in its polluted seas..."
Azimut, in fact, has a business unit dedicated to marinas and other related services and owns an "incredible" marina in Moscow, 10 minutes from the Red Square.
"Marinas are the key instrument to developing the yachting business and it has been calculated that, for every boat owner, there are about 12 persons working around them."
Somewhat underestimated, she says that in Italy, the yachting business is considered a niche, but it actually employs as many workers as the chemical industry.
Ms Demaria - somewhat of a rare breed in the industry - says the group is looking into further collaborations with Esprit Yachting, the local appointed agent of Azimut and Atlantis yachts, although she remains tight-lipped on the brewing ideas.
Asked if Azimut is interested in creating a marina in Malta, given the way it looks at the island and the scope of its business unit, she merely says the company aims to create as many marinas as possible.
"Malta offers the right climatic conditions and the right partners," Ms Demaria reiterates.
She is also aware that the lack of available berths is one of the local shortcomings. Even Esprit Yachting finds it hard to sell boats as a result. The supply of a berth is, in fact, part and parcel of a sale contract - and it seems to be the same everywhere.
"Malta is a very demanding market, which is positive for those who are selling a product, not a price," Ms Demaria says.
Hence the presence in Malta of the Atlantis 55 - "a yacht with the ambition of a mega yacht", created from scratch by Ms Demaria. It got here before the official launch at the Genoa Boat Show, which means "Esprit acts very fast".
"Normally, they would get their hands on it some eight months down the line. Atlantis is renowned to be very fast - we launched four innovations in one year - but Esprit has proven to be even faster! It is a sign of their heavy investment. They ordered the boat when the prototype was not yet finished to be sure it would be at their launch," Ms Demaria points out.
There was an immediate "feeling" for Esprit - "they share our business style and vision; and they were ready to invest," Ms Demaria says of the local agents.
The sun is, after all, setting on the dealer who goes around with a briefcase to carry out a boat sale, she says of Esprit's investments. Occupying such an elevated position in a male-dominated industry may not be the norm, but Ms Demaria knows what it takes to stay afloat and an element of that also boils down to her feminine skills.
Although she was responsible for bringing to fruition her idea of creating a "terrace on the sea" - the Atlantis 55 - and built the brand from zero, Ms Demaria won't take the credit and her successful business model is clear.
"Alone, we can do nothing. I did not create the boat - I created a structure of people, who work well together; I created a solid nucleus from the start."
Not wanting to sound rhetorical, she insists that what counts in a firm is the "person". When you have group of people round a table, who are committed to achieve the same results, it is not that hard, she believes.
For Ms Demaria, it is about team effort: "I do not believe in monsters and geniuses; I delegate a lot. It is the only way to grow - we only have 24 hours in a day."
However, just as a team is better than one person, she also firmly believes that a team composed of both men and women gives even better results. Women tend to be more flexible and able to adapt, while men are often confined to a hierarchical set-up. They are also great at informal communication, which is almost more important in a fast-paced working environment.
As a donna manager, who are still few and far between even in Italy, Ms Demaria claims, however, that she never had to go down the road of aggression, even though she admits that women have to prove themselves more than men and can often fall into that trap.
On the contrary, when she deals with China, Japan and Arab countries, where women hardly work, let alone occupy high positions in companies, the attitude towards me is that "I must be some kind of 'monster' to have reached where I am in a company of such high repute. I may have spoken for five minutes, but in their minds, they have already decided that I must be very good," she laughs about the red-carpet treatment she is often afforded.
But it did not just fall into her lap. Ms Demaria has spent practically all her working life - 23 years - with the Azimut Benetti Group, and was recently elected vice-president of Ucina, the powerful Italian association of boat builders.
Although Italian yachts may be considered "the best in the world", many Italian firms will not grow, she warns, because they did not get organised. The medium-sized will remain medium because they did not build an appropriate structure.
Ms Demaria maintains that this limitation in the Italian nautical industry will surface in the coming years, when the market will inevitably slow down. The small are destined to sink.
Meanwhile, the effect of the price of fuel on boat sales has not been drastically felt, although owners are tending to embark on shorter journeys and fuel sales at marinas have decreased by around 20 per cent in Italy, she says of the current situation.
Carla Demaria, who navigates the top echelons of the luxury motor and mega yachts business - predominantly a man's domain - says Malta is considered an interesting market from the yachting point of view, not only by Azimut, but also other boat builders.
"In this magnificent country, I would create many more marinas. For me, this is a marvellous place to grow the business.
"After all, a quality marina, which is well managed and offers the required services, would attract people from everywhere. Even China is creating marinas in its polluted seas..."
Azimut, in fact, has a business unit dedicated to marinas and other related services and owns an "incredible" marina in Moscow, 10 minutes from the Red Square.
"Marinas are the key instrument to developing the yachting business and it has been calculated that, for every boat owner, there are about 12 persons working around them."
Somewhat underestimated, she says that in Italy, the yachting business is considered a niche, but it actually employs as many workers as the chemical industry.
Ms Demaria - somewhat of a rare breed in the industry - says the group is looking into further collaborations with Esprit Yachting, the local appointed agent of Azimut and Atlantis yachts, although she remains tight-lipped on the brewing ideas.
Asked if Azimut is interested in creating a marina in Malta, given the way it looks at the island and the scope of its business unit, she merely says the company aims to create as many marinas as possible.
"Malta offers the right climatic conditions and the right partners," Ms Demaria reiterates.
She is also aware that the lack of available berths is one of the local shortcomings. Even Esprit Yachting finds it hard to sell boats as a result. The supply of a berth is, in fact, part and parcel of a sale contract - and it seems to be the same everywhere.
"Malta is a very demanding market, which is positive for those who are selling a product, not a price," Ms Demaria says.
Hence the presence in Malta of the Atlantis 55 - "a yacht with the ambition of a mega yacht", created from scratch by Ms Demaria. It got here before the official launch at the Genoa Boat Show, which means "Esprit acts very fast".
"Normally, they would get their hands on it some eight months down the line. Atlantis is renowned to be very fast - we launched four innovations in one year - but Esprit has proven to be even faster! It is a sign of their heavy investment. They ordered the boat when the prototype was not yet finished to be sure it would be at their launch," Ms Demaria points out.
There was an immediate "feeling" for Esprit - "they share our business style and vision; and they were ready to invest," Ms Demaria says of the local agents.
The sun is, after all, setting on the dealer who goes around with a briefcase to carry out a boat sale, she says of Esprit's investments. Occupying such an elevated position in a male-dominated industry may not be the norm, but Ms Demaria knows what it takes to stay afloat and an element of that also boils down to her feminine skills.
Although she was responsible for bringing to fruition her idea of creating a "terrace on the sea" - the Atlantis 55 - and built the brand from zero, Ms Demaria won't take the credit and her successful business model is clear.
"Alone, we can do nothing. I did not create the boat - I created a structure of people, who work well together; I created a solid nucleus from the start."
Not wanting to sound rhetorical, she insists that what counts in a firm is the "person". When you have group of people round a table, who are committed to achieve the same results, it is not that hard, she believes.
For Ms Demaria, it is about team effort: "I do not believe in monsters and geniuses; I delegate a lot. It is the only way to grow - we only have 24 hours in a day."
However, just as a team is better than one person, she also firmly believes that a team composed of both men and women gives even better results. Women tend to be more flexible and able to adapt, while men are often confined to a hierarchical set-up. They are also great at informal communication, which is almost more important in a fast-paced working environment.
As a donna manager, who are still few and far between even in Italy, Ms Demaria claims, however, that she never had to go down the road of aggression, even though she admits that women have to prove themselves more than men and can often fall into that trap.
On the contrary, when she deals with China, Japan and Arab countries, where women hardly work, let alone occupy high positions in companies, the attitude towards me is that "I must be some kind of 'monster' to have reached where I am in a company of such high repute. I may have spoken for five minutes, but in their minds, they have already decided that I must be very good," she laughs about the red-carpet treatment she is often afforded.
But it did not just fall into her lap. Ms Demaria has spent practically all her working life - 23 years - with the Azimut Benetti Group, and was recently elected vice-president of Ucina, the powerful Italian association of boat builders.
Although Italian yachts may be considered "the best in the world", many Italian firms will not grow, she warns, because they did not get organised. The medium-sized will remain medium because they did not build an appropriate structure.
Ms Demaria maintains that this limitation in the Italian nautical industry will surface in the coming years, when the market will inevitably slow down. The small are destined to sink.
Meanwhile, the effect of the price of fuel on boat sales has not been drastically felt, although owners are tending to embark on shorter journeys and fuel sales at marinas have decreased by around 20 per cent in Italy, she says of the current situation.