Yacht Town is a commercial center centered around a yacht pier, serving all consumers who come to the yacht port for consumption, including yacht owners, yacht practitioners, tourists, and other public facilities. The basic attributes of yacht towns are public and open, therefore they need to undertake more social public service obligations.
Driven by the dual factors of cluster development and urbanization in the yacht industry, yacht towns have emerged. Yacht towns are a type of town among many, as well as a social entity, with rich natural and cultural landscapes that can provide corresponding yacht themed tourism services. The "consumption transportation" and "industrial agglomeration" of the yacht industry are the prerequisites for the formation of yacht towns, "specialization" is the key point of yacht town construction, and "pan yacht industry integration" is the core of yacht town development.
Referring to the successful experience of European and American yacht town planning and construction, and combining the development status of China's yacht industry and characteristic towns, yacht towns have broad development space and bright market prospects in China.
Firstly, as the income of ordinary Chinese people continues to grow, the market demand for marine leisure vacation products represented by yachts, sailboats, and fishing will continue to grow. In 2022, a total of 45 imported yachts and 300 domestically produced yachts were sold in China, of which 25 were imported and 40 were domestically produced in Hainan. At present, the total number of domestic yachts is about 10000, and there are currently about 13000 yacht berths. With the increasing market demand, the development of yacht towns is unstoppable.
Secondly, with the transformation of the real estate market, coastal tourism and vacation real estate represented by scarce resources will become a new round of investment hotspots for real estate developers.
Thirdly, with the advancement of urbanization and the development of characteristic tourism industry, local governments attach great importance to the development and construction of characteristic towns with tourism themes.
Fourthly, the richness and diversity of coastal resources in Chinese Mainland have huge natural resource advantages for the development of yacht towns.
At present, there are no real yacht towns in coastal, lakeside and riverside cities in China. Some are more Yacht club and tourist towns. Because the Yacht club developed by real estate developers cannot carry a variety of coastal leisure and vacation businesses in the yacht town, high-end, private and single businesses are the basic attributes of the Yacht club at present, and it has not formed the basic function of open and public participation of coastal leisure and vacation products and the gathering of multiple business businesses.
Hainan Province has a unique advantage in developing the yacht industry. The Law of the China on Hainan Free Trade Port, the Overall Plan for the Construction of Hainan Free Trade Port, and the Guiding Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Supporting Hainan to Deepen Reform and Opening up clearly put forward that Hainan should support the establishment of an innovative pilot zone for the reform and development of the yacht industry, develop yacht tourism, relax yacht tourism control, and build an industrial system of Hainan free trade port.