Hong Kong is without a doubt one of the best examples of prosperity, wealth and brand agency hong kong prosperity in Asia today. Before the British occupation, the city was a group of fishing villages. In 1842, after the British won the Opium War, Hong Kong was handed over to Britain as a colony and quickly became a famous seaport.
It is believed that Hong Kong’s first yacht club was founded by a group of rowers in 1849 and was called the Hong Kong Boat Club. The Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club was founded in 1894. The yacht club was built primarily for British Army officers and expatriates who considered sailing entertainment.
The first typhoon shelter in Hong Kong was built in 1883 after a typhoon devastated Hong Kong and Macau in 1874, injuring 2,000 people and killing 5,000. Ships and fishing boats moored on the water were completely destroyed by the typhoon, prompting the Government to build these shelters to protect all ships and maintain the city’s reputation as a safe haven. Later, new shelters were built throughout the city, where commercial and private vessels could be moored.
During World War II, Hong Kong was abandoned by the Japanese in 1941, when they bombed important parts of the city and defeated the British army. The Japanese surrendered and left in 1945 and returned it to the British.
In the 1950s and 1960s, many Chinese brought their money to Hong Kong to escape unrest in China. They set up factories and businesses that turned the city into a manufacturing hub for goods such as textiles, plastics and electronics.
Hong Kong’s maritime industry has also grown. In 1967, another yacht club was founded in an area called Aberdeen in the southern part of the city.
Despite the infrastructure boom, the city was still known as one of the most corrupt cities in the world until 1972, when the Independent Anti-Corruption Agency was established to get the country back on track. Thanks to its impressive legal system, low taxes and effective government, Hong Kong has attracted talented foreign investors, traders and professionals. The city quickly became a financial center.
Hong Kong is also an important city for boating in Asia. It is not the largest marine market in Asia like Japan, but its own waters have about 12,000 pleasure craft. Hong Kong is a small city with a total area of 1,104 square kilometers and a population of 7.2 million people. The reason Hong Kong is considered the capital of Asia is that the city is very globalized and compact in the sense that the services and experience of the boats are readily available. Most Hong Kongers speak English. Maintenance shipyards and professional workers such as crews, captains, surveyors, mechanics and consultants are always available in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is home to a large number of wealthy people. As a result, there are also many luxury and expensive yachts on the water. In Hong Kong, everything is very well organized, and everything can be done incredibly quickly, even with the involvement of government departments. Hong Kong also has no tolerance for corruption. It is one of the safest places in the world for yachtsmen and law-abiding people. There are about 250 islands in Hong Kong’s waters, making it an exciting place to swim. But one of the main reasons for the success of Hong Kong’s water industry is the fact that it is a tax haven that does not tax pleasure boats.
Thousands of boat crews and captains work in Hong Kong’s maritime industry. The annual salary of the crew of the ship alone is about 200 million dollars. In addition, the businesses around the boat also provide jobs such as shipyards, yacht dealers, equipment and electronics, charters, brokers, DIY enthusiasts, etc.
During the Asian financial crisis of 1997, Hong Kong’s shipping industry experienced an unusual boom. Before the crisis, this sector was already well-behaved in the financial markets. There was a lot of prosperity and sentiment that the market has reached a new level. By all accounts, the industry will be unsinkable.
In the end, the unthinkable happened. In 1997, the Asian market collapsed. Many of the greedy will now need more than a decade to pay their debts. Bankruptcies, serious job losses and, worst of all, suicides have become commonplace. Some even took the lives of their family and their families.
In these troubled times, the used boat market was in an unexpected position for those who saw the opportunity. In superstitious Asian culture, boats abandoned by people who committed suicide were considered bad luck and sold cheaply to get rid of them. These boats were then bought almost free by those who understood the opportunity. Many boats now belonged to banks and financial institutions. Some who understood the value of the boats collected as much money as possible to buy these distressed assets.
The Internet, which was relatively new in 1997, gave boat sellers the opportunity to enter the global market. In the years that followed, there was a huge export of used boats to countries with strong economies such as the Australian, American and European markets. All a local agent needed was a simple know-how to buy boats. It was easy to buy and sell.
This practice continued until 2001, when the 9/11 attacks in the United States slowed the export of used boats from Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is said to have been again affected by an outbreak of the influenza virus known as atypical pneumonia virus. The first case was reported in March 2003, when a businessman on his way to Hong Kong was infected with a deadly virus. The infection quickly spread to hospital staff and people at the hotel where he lived. Health officials in Hong Kong quickly took steps to contain the spread of the virus, but panic spread throughout the city. In general, the city has slowed down as people have started to leave their homes and use public transport. There have also been cases where houses have been quarantined. At that time, the real estate market also fell to near historic lows. In these difficult circumstances, the boat market remained sluggish, although new export markets for second boats, such as Russia, Korea and the Philippines, emerged.
After 2004 and 2005, economies around the world began to recover. Stock markets and property prices rose rapidly in Hong Kong. The boat market has changed a little during difficult times. Exports of used boats were still a small market, but by then the market for new motor yachts had already begun. Locals bought new European yachts, and Hong Kong’s shipbuilding industry began to grow again. This time many more brands were introduced on the market and many more boat dealers were involved. Distributors and sellers competed with each other. It really was a buyer’s market where interested parties could find good discounts. Since there was not much difference between boat design and overall functionality, buyers could turn to brokers who offered the best price. The Hong Kong boat market has always been price sensitive. No matter how rich the buyers are, they are always interested in a good deal. However, older and more well-known brands were still the most popular at the time, and buyers were reluctant to buy new brands.
The next economic downturn in 2008 again shook the industry, but surprisingly, sales were not as badly affected as people thought, at least in Hong Kong. The main reason is China. Hong Kong has new buyers from mainland China, who usually preferred fairly well-known European brands that looked catchy. But due to the lack of maintenance of shipyards in China, tax and licensing difficulties, Chinese buyers chose to leave their boats in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong will soon have a new industry problem. Since 2001, Hong Kong has not exported many boats abroad, and the steady flow of small and large boats over the course of a decade has quickly made Hong Kong berths scarce. Several yacht clubs in Hong Kong were soon overcrowded. State-provided berths for pleasure craft in waters protected by breakwaters are overcrowded. Space is a scarce commodity in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, this aspect is still not taken seriously by the Government, which wants to avoid possible political clashes and accusations of spending money on the rich.
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