Views
6 years ago

2017 July August Marina World

  • Text
  • Marinas
  • Software
  • Marine
  • Waterfront
  • Berths
  • Boats
  • Estonia
  • Wharf
  • Pontoons
  • Mobile
  • Www.marinaworld.com
The magazine for the marina industry

WE DESIGN AND BUILD

WE DESIGN AND BUILD MARINAS THAT MEET UNIQUE REQUIREMENTS Harborage Marina, St. Petersburg, Fl WWW.MARINETEK.NET

Marina World HEAD OFFICE MAILING ADDRESS & SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES Loud & Clear Publishing Ltd, School Farm, School Road, Terrington St. John, Cambridgeshire PE14 7SJ, UK Editor Carol Fulford T: +44 (0) 1945 881018 F: +44 (0) 1621 855 867 E: carolfulford@marinaworld.co.uk Special Correspondent Charlotte Niemiec E:charlotte@marinaworld.co.uk Advertisement/Commercial Director Julia Hallam T: +44 (0) 1621855 890 F: +44 (0) 1621 855867 E: juliahallam@marinaworld.co.uk Administration Manager Corinna Francis T: +44 (0) 1621855 890 E: corinnafrancis@marinaworld.co.uk Accounts Manager Magdalena Charman T: +44 (0) 1403 733678 E: accounts@marinaworld.co.uk Advertisement Production Nick Hing T: +44 (0) 1323 490384 E: adstudio@marinaworld.co.uk NORTH AMERICAN OFFICE Sales Director Americas Philippe Critot PO Box 29759, Los Angeles, CA 90029-0759, USA T: +1 323 660 5459 F: +1 323 660 6030 E: pcritot@marinaworld.com FRENCH OFFICE Publisher’s Representative Catherine Métais T: +33 6 60 17 75 81 E: c.metais@parisrai.com ITALIAN OFFICE Advertisement Representative Ediconsult Internazionale srl piazza Fontane Marose 3, 16123 Genoa, Italy T: +39 010 583 684 F: +39 010 566 578 E: genova@ediconsult.com CHINESE OFFICE Publisher’s Representative Simon Ding Bridge International Holding, Rm. 401, Building A, No. 55 Jinyu Road, Minhang District. 201103 Shanghai, China T: +86 21 33231328 F: +86 21 33231366 E: simon@chcbiz.com Marina World (ISSN 1471-5856) is published bi-monthly by Loud & Clear Publishing Ltd, School Farm, School Road, Terrington St. John, Cambridgeshire PE14 7SJ, United Kingdom. The 2017 US annual subscription price is 0. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named Air Business Ltd, c/o Worldnet Shipping Inc., 156-15 146 th Avenue, 2 nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Periodicals postage paid in Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: Please send address changes to MARINA WORLD, c/o Worldnet Shipping, Inc., 156-15, 146 th Avenue, 2 nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Subscription records are maintained at Loud & Clear Publishing Ltd, School Farm, School Road, Terrington St. John, Cambridgeshire PE14 7SJ, United Kingdom. Air Business Ltd acts as Loud & Clear Publishing’s mailing agent. Marina World is available on subscription at the following cost: 1 year (6 issues) - £80.00 Sterling (0) 2 years (12 issues) - £140.00 Sterling (0) No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior permission of Loud & Clear Publishing Ltd, the copyright owners. Upon application, permission may be freely granted to copy abstracts of articles on condition that a full reference to the source is given. Printed in the UK by Stephens & George © 2017 Loud & Clear Publishing Ltd Views expressed by individual contributors in this issue are not necessarily those of Loud & Clear Publishing Ltd. Equally, the inclusion of advertisements in this magazine does not constitute endorsement of the companies, products and services concerned by Loud & Clear Publishing Ltd. The publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising. Enabling the customer Carol Fulford Editor FROM THE EDITOR In an increasingly DIY world we are entering a new phase when it comes to customer service; enabling customers to do as much as possible for themselves, when they like, where they like, provided they have a smartphone. And, although statistics vary, I think we can safely assume that around 80% of internet users now own one of these devices and up to 33% of users check email and browse websites primarily and often exclusively using a mobile hand-held device. We’ve become used to people striding the pavements seemingly in deep conversation with themselves; being bumped and bothered by those whose field of vision is focused on the smallest of small screens; and observed how 21st century diners set their table – knife, fork, spoon, smartphone. Love it or hate it, we need it. And it’s instrumental in the new wave of self-service offerings that are on trend in all industries including ours. As you can read in our special focus on Management Software in this issue, the increasing demand for self-service options is a major trend, and securing ways to help the customer interact directly with the marina are top of the shopping list. This means we need real time communication to make best use of the 24/7 opportunities provided by the internet. We are seeing a rise in online reservation systems; mobile Apps that enable customers to check on their boats, check their utilities and settle accounts; and systems that alert the marina office to the imminent arrival of incoming boats so that an appropriate member of staff can be on the dock to receive and greet them. To achieve this, software providers are offering packages that integrate all marina systems, and relying on cloud technology to provide sufficient and secure data storage and give multi-site access that is also ‘mobile’. Tone Britovšec of IRM speaks of “wearable technology” providing the marina manager with an ‘office on the move’ and boaters with ‘marina on the move’ options. Integrating systems is ideal but such systems have to work for the people who are actually using them and work the way they need them to work. As Graham Laidler of Harbour Assist asserts, it’s not just technology that matters – the customer experience is essential. There are two customers to take into account – the marina manager and the boater – and integrated systems need to work well on both levels. A modern integrated marina management system and a global fleet of smartphone toting boaters removes much of the pain of day-to-day administration. But it introduces a fresh challenge. Where does customer service go next? www.marinaworld.com - July/August 2017 5

Back Issues