Mediterranean yacht charter 2026: Greece leads in occupancy and seasonal revenue

Greece leads the six markets compared in Yacht-Rent.com’s Mediterranean charter analysis for 2026, with the highest occupancy and estimated seasonal revenue per berth for both sailboats and catamarans. The figures are a snapshot based on data collected through August 1, 2026, rather than final results for the full season.

The analysis by Yacht-Rent.com, a yacht charter platform with more than 24 years of experience, compares average weekly charter prices, booking rates and the number of booked weeks for sailboats and catamarans in six major Mediterranean markets: Greece, Turkey, Italy, Croatia, France and Spain.

Although the season is not yet over, the figures already provide a useful indication of how the different markets are performing.

Sailboat charter: Greece combines price and strong demand

In this snapshot, Greece stands out as the strongest sailboat charter market in the comparison.

The average booking rate is 60.87%, the highest of the six countries, corresponding to approximately 18.9 booked weeks during the season. This also gives Greece the highest estimated seasonal income per person-berth, at €8,543.

Turkey has the highest average weekly price, at €488 per person-berth, but its lower occupancy of 50.92% means that its estimated seasonal income (€7,710) remains below Greece.

Italy is another interesting case. Its average weekly price of €415 is considerably below Turkey's €488, but its 56.58% occupancy produces an estimated €7,263 in seasonal income.

Croatia has one of the lower average prices in the group, at €355 per person-berth, but its occupancy is relatively strong at 59.52%. With approximately 18.5 booked weeks, Croatia is very close to Greece in terms of utilisation, although the lower price level results in lower seasonal income.

Spain records the weakest sailboat occupancy, at 46.24%, and only 14.3 booked weeks on average.

Catamarans show an even clearer Greek advantage

The picture is similar for catamarans, but the differences between the markets are even more pronounced.

Again, Greece has the highest occupancy, at 60.24%, with an average of 18.7 booked weeks. Combined with an average weekly price of €839 per person-berth, this results in estimated seasonal income of €15,689, comfortably ahead of every other country.

Spain has the highest catamaran price, at €947 per person-berth, but its occupancy is only 45.33%. As a result, its seasonal income is €13,353 — significantly below Greece despite the much higher price.

Italy and France also achieve high prices, at €873 and €871 respectively, but their occupancy rates are around 50%.

Croatia presents an interesting contrast. Its average catamaran price of €703 is by far the lowest in the six-country comparison, but its 58.30% occupancy is second only to Greece. With 18.1 booked weeks, Croatian catamarans generate an estimated €12,724 per person-berth for the season.

Turkey has both relatively high prices and relatively low occupancy, resulting in the lowest estimated seasonal income among the six catamaran markets.

Price is only half of the story

One of the most interesting findings from the data is that the highest charter price does not necessarily produce the highest seasonal revenue.

Turkey has the highest sailboat price, while Spain has the highest catamaran price. Neither country, however, leads the market in seasonal revenue.

Greece demonstrates the opposite strategy: its prices are not the highest, but its consistently strong occupancy means that boats spend more weeks generating charter income.

The same pattern can be seen in Croatia. Croatian catamarans have the lowest average weekly price in the comparison, but their high booking rate puts Croatia ahead of Turkey in estimated seasonal revenue.

For charter operators and boat owners, this suggests that price and utilisation need to be considered together. A slightly lower weekly rate can potentially generate more annual revenue if it results in significantly more booked weeks.

Methodology and scope

The analysis is based on weekly charter price data from a database of approximately 10,000 boats. To make prices comparable across fleets of different boat sizes, the average weekly price of each boat was divided by its maximum sleeping capacity, resulting in an average charter price per person/berth. This provides a more realistic picture of the actual cost of a charter holiday than simply comparing the weekly prices of boats of different sizes.

Occupancy was calculated for each week by comparing the number of booked boats with the total number of boats available for charter in each country. The analysis was limited to the main Mediterranean operating season, from April 1 to November 2, to avoid weeks outside the normal operating season distorting the results and giving a misleading picture of actual charter demand.

Seasonal income represents charter revenue from the boat rental price only and does not deduct maintenance, marina, insurance, management or any other operating costs, which can vary significantly between countries and individual boats. The estimated income was calculated by applying the average occupancy rate to the approximately 216-day operating season, converting the resulting number of booked days into weeks, and multiplying the estimated booked weeks by the average weekly price per person/berth. The resulting figure represents estimated seasonal charter-price income per berth and can also be used to estimate the potential charter revenue of an individual boat — for example, an eight-berth yacht operating at the market average would have an estimated seasonal charter-price revenue approximately eight times the reported income per berth.

Data and charts: Yacht-Rent.com. Analysis supplied by Neven Grubisic; editorial adaptation by BoatsWorld. Figures reproduce the supplied August 1 snapshot; estimated rental revenue is not net profit.

Cover photo: Denys Gromov / Pexels.