Editor’s Note: Charter broker Beverly Parsons of Interpac Yachts visited Croatia and Montenegro in September 2008 to get a feel for the crewed charter market. She shared her thoughts and experiences in an exclusive interview with CharterWave Editor Kim Kavin. Excerpts are below, along with some of Parsons’ photographs.

Where did you go cruising?
My husband and I went on a converted Norwegian ice boat with 60 passengers. I chose it because every time I’ve tried to get to Croatia to see charter boats between the Genoa and Turkey boat shows that are held each May, the flights are too difficult. I do quite a bit of business in Croatia, and I wanted to see the boats.
     This particular itinerary started in Venice and included Montenegro as well as Split in Croatia. So basically, the boat was small enough that we could get to some of the islands where there’s charter, and I got a really good feel for the area, including the best things to do, what things cost, all of that.

Croatia has been increasingly popular for crewed charter the past few years, right?
They are really revved up for charter, and they’re a lot further ahead than most of us realized.
The boats range from mediocre to outstanding, and the crews all spoke English—good English at that.
     The people that I work with in Croatia, although they aren’t necessarily up on how the industry works in the rest of the world, are very professional and extremely involved. They really care about making their charter business work.

What kinds of local charter yachts did you see?
There were some motorsailers like the ones that used to be in Turkey, and I saw some outstanding motoryachts that were as good as what I see at the international charter show in Genoa each spring.
     I should add that we were visiting in September, which is a busy charter month for Croatia, so not all the boats were available for tours, but the boats that I saw, I really liked.

Did any destinations make a big impression on you?
We went all down the coast: Slovenia, Croatia, and Montenegro, which used to be part of Yugoslavia. We also touched on Albania. I loved Montenegro. It’s a very nice place. I wouldn’t recommend Albania; it made Tijuana, Mexico, look wealthy. But Slovenia was just like Western Europe. It was manicured, beautiful, every house with flower boxes in the windows. It’s not mentioned much for charter because everyone is talking about Croatia, but Slovenia was just exquisite.
     We also saw big cities like Dubrovnik, where there were tons of tourists. UNESCO has gone in since the wars, and so much has been destroyed, but they’re rebuilding the cities, so Dubrovnik now looks a lot like it used to be. There are churches, cathedrals, walled cities, all fabulous to look at. The only downside is that it was jammed with tourists, and some of the tourist places are a little jaded from the cruise ships dumping people there, but in general the people were very nice.  I would say there’s more than enough to do on shore from your boat. Even to the inland waterfalls was only a 45-minute taxi ride from the boat.

What did you learn about the charter regulations in Croatia?
I’ve come up against a few things over the years. Some companies don’t have trust accounts, for instance, so when I would send the provisioning allowance from the charter client, they would have trouble with taxes and wanted the clients to carry cash. Other companies are at a better level of organization. A good broker has to know which companies are better to work with.
     For itinerary planning, the law right now is that a foreign-flagged boat can’t pick you up and drop you off in Croatia, so I’d like to use the Croatian boats for booking charters when possible. There’s nothing wrong with them. The crews are delightful, and they know the area. Some need to be improved, especially in the motorsailor area from what I saw, but all of the crew I met, even on smaller boats, they all spoke English.

How do the Croatian boats compare with other boats in the Eastern Mediterranean?
The Croatian boats are a decent price compared with the boats in Greece. You more or less get what you pay for, I think.

So, do you think Croatia will continue to grow in popularity for charter?
I saw quite a few international charter boats that I know from Italy and Greece there. So charter is getting stronger already. And having been there myself now, I feel much more comfortable about sending clients there. It felt very safe to me, and clean and nice. That can only be good for charter in the future.

If you would like more information about Beverly Parsons’ trip to Croatia and Montenegro, you can contact her through Interpac Yachts.