Dedicated sailors will think I am stating the obvious, but there really is something special in being all on your own on the seas of Greece with the only restriction on where you go being how long you are willing to sail for and what kind of experience you want to have that night. A bar in Mykonos; a restaurant in Santorini; or a secluded beach on one of the hundreds of islands in Greece? … Tough choice!
Following from that, and on a topical note, the economic crisis of 2010 is hitting us hard here in Greece, and I am a firm believer that providing quality, good value services to tourists is an area that everyone in Greece should be interested in promoting and supporting as much as possible. Writing this blog means I often meet and discuss tourist related issues with various Greek tourist service providers.
Sometimes I am suitably impressed with someone’s business, vision, strategy or service that I feel that I should do what I can to help promote their business in my own little way. And such it is with Mr Giannis Makridakis from Sail Greece Yacht Charters, a good man with a good business that deserves to be rewarded for his dedication to quality yacht charters, especially in this difficult economic period!
Sail Greece Yacht Charters
I met Giannis through some friends who are also keen sailors and we got chatting about his business and the greek travel industry in general over a couple of beers down at the bar at Alimos Marina where Sail Greece Yachts is based. Giannis and his partner Vassilis started Sail Greece Yachts almost 15 years ago and have been involved in the greek yacht charter business through thick and thin ever since.
They own all their own yachts (11 in total and a mixture of Bavarias, Jeanneaus, Oceanis’, Sun Odysseys and one Cyclades 50.5) which means you charter the boat directly from them with no middle man and no markup.
As Gianni typically says ‘I am not interested in high volume, impersonal charters. I spend time with each charter group that comes to us both before and after their charter to learn a bit about them, where they come from, what they liked or disliked about Greece and what they expected and experienced during their sailing holiday in Greece’.
Sailing holidays in Greece the way they should be!
Both Gianni and Vassili are firm believers that the best way to provide your service is to think like a customer and they are clear that they are more interested in making friends that enjoy sailing in Greece than simply sending as many yacht charters as possible out of the marina.
This philosophy is awarded by the fact that many of their customers are return customers that come back time after time to enjoy the sailing in Greece which Gianni believes is some of the best sailing in the world. Now he and I might be a bit biased, but I think I would back him on this statement! 🙂
So, if you are a sailor after a bareboat charter, or a group of friends looking for a skippered sailing holiday in Greece, visit Gianni’s site at www.sailgreeceyachts.com for good value yacht charters in the greek islands! Mention that travelsingreece sent you, Gianni will be happy to hear it!
Happy sailing!