Land ho!
Pick a Pier has reached the end of 2021 with fair winds and following seas. But landlubbers we’re not. As we set sail for 2022, we look back at 2021 with awe and appreciation.
Pick a Pier meets business transformation
In 2021, Pick a Pier helped hundreds of marinas optimize their utilization and pricing while revolutionizing the maritime world with digital technology — connecting boaters and marinas like never before.
We doubled our marina listing, tripled our team and welcomed thousands of new boaters. In fact, together with our marinas, we exceeded every expectation when it comes to online berth reservations. Incredibly, the number of berth reservations initiated through Pick a Pier increased x30.
We even unveiled a new logo, which now better reflects the spirit of sailing as well as our long-term commitment to the digital transformation of maritime. We find the sail a fitting image since at Pick a Pier we use technology to push boating forward into the future, just like a sail uses wind to propel a vessel forward to its destination. And quite magically, this sail also forms a “P”.
It’s like the sea split…
2021 saw a massive surge in recreational boating activity. COVID-19 motivated people to seek outdoor activities and avoid crowds. Boating was an obvious choice. And very quickly, the demand for docking space increased even more, accelerating a trend that will clearly continue.
But with more boats going in and out, marinas needed better tools to predict their available berthing spots, plan allocation and communicate more efficiently with boaters.
Pick a Pier was at the helm, ready to accommodate them.
Marinas across the world finally began to optimize their operations, reduce their bureaucratic burden, and maximize their earning potential using Pick Pier’s platform.
Incredibly, we watched how marinas that adopted Pick a Pier enjoyed 30% more reservations and expanded their berth utilization threefold. As they increased their profitability, marinas also collectively saved 800 hours of staff time using our cloud platform.
But we don’t like to brag. So we let our marinas brag for us.
“Through Pick a Pier, we were able to receive new visitors from foreign countries that wouldn’t have heard about us without the platform.”
“I never realized how seamless and effortless communicating with our clients could be. The Pick a Pier platform simplifies how we communicate with our boaters and reduces time wasted on emails and phone calls.”
And now they’re reaping the rewards.
Many of our marinas now boast impressive accomplishments, and we’ve honored them with the respect they deserve by awarding them befitting titles. The staff at Dover Marina celebrated being “The Most Accommodating Marina on Pick a Pier” with the highest ratio of accepted reservations. The staff at Port de Plaisance received the award for Pick a Pier’s “Most Popular Marina in 2021”, with 393 reservations redeemed. Le Havre Plaisance obtained the most reports from its boaters regarding their departures, enabling the marina to prepare for and accept more visitors during the boating season. They are “Pick a Pier’s Most Prepared Marina”.
Our boaters are also jumping on board and enjoying the benefits of reserving through Pick a Pier. They can obtain an accurate and immediate quote from the marina, reserve a berth without booking fees and relax with a free cancellation policy up to their day of arrival.
Last year, without a doubt, both marinas and boaters gained significantly from Pick a Pier’s advanced cloud-based tools.
Pick a Pier builds productive partnerships
Pick a Pier also expanded its presence significantly through collaborations with TransEurope Marinas, Blue Flag and other organizations.
Apparently, the positive feelings are mutual.
“We’ve benefited so much from the partnership with Pick a Pier. We’ve seen firsthand the value of their platform and how connecting boaters and marinas online translates to real business results,” remarked Jean-Michel Gaigné, Chairman of TransEurope Marinas.
How we translate our passion for sustainability into creating real impact
Perhaps more importantly, we witnessed how by arming the recreational boating industry with the right tools, we can help preserve Earth’s most important resource — the ocean.
Pick a Pick also earned public recognition as one of only five finalists for boot Dusseldorf’s 2022 Ocean Tribute award, which is given to companies developing innovative future-oriented technologies for the protection and preservation of the oceans and sustainable management to protect marine and coastal ecosystems.
At Pick a Pier, we’ve seen for ourselves the finite amount of space available to serve the needs of the boating industry as well as the housing, tourism and transportation industries. Solving this issue by constructing more marinas is not only expensive but also harmful to the environment.
In 2021, Pick a Pier successfully addressed the problems associated with limited marina space. Our platform provided a practical solution to the increasing berth shortage, proving its value to boaters and marinas worldwide.
Additionally, by helping marinas to avoid coastline exploitation, and improving boater behavior through increased environmental awareness, Pick a Pier is protecting marine life and safeguarding the environment.
Pick a Pier meets 2022
With the widespread implementation of our AI-driven platform, boaters can finally plan their voyages with confidence and marinas can optimize their berthing space.
Incredibly, our marinas received 44 times more return customers to Pick a Pier in 2021 than in previous years.
And we know why.
Pick a Pier is quietly transforming marinas with digital tools designed specifically to meet their needs. And what a difference it has made. In the words of our co-founder and CEO, Idan Cohen,
“We have an amazing lineup of partnerships with a reach of 500,000 boaters, but we’re not stopping there. We know that once visiting boaters get a chance to see how convenient online berth reservations are, it will have a massive and positive impact on marinas and the environment.”
Ahoy! Here’s to continuing our voyage into the future.