Goolets' Story – The First 20 Years in Luxury Yachting
How it all started?
From a humble one-man operation, we've grown into a leading organization in Croatia, boasting one of the largest luxury yacht fleets and our very own brand, DS Yachts. The past 20 years have been thrilling, and we can't wait to see what the next 20 hold.
This post is our way of expressing gratitude as we look back at our memorable journey. We have so much to be thankful for!
2023
Launch of a new Yachting brand called DS Yachts
In 2023, we launched DS Yachts, a game-changing brand set to democratize yachting. We expanded into Goolets Charter Management and Yacht Brokerage, providing used yacht sales and custom-build opportunities. Our enhanced customer support is now more effective than ever.
We now have two dedicated teams ensuring customer satisfaction. Our Sales team excels at identifying the ideal yacht for you, while the Retention team preps groups for their Goolets charter experience. This optimizes the client's journey, with experts guiding every step, from yacht selection to destination planning.
2022
Our team has expanded to 25, and we facilitated a 3-day event for our key partners - the yacht owners from our central agency. We organized over 400 yacht charter groups in 2022, and we've doubled our sales and marketing teams, transitioning from a small family business to a more corporate structure for sustained growth.
FOTKA EKIPE
We hosted a 3-day event in Lipica, Slovenia, inviting all yacht owners from our central agency fleet. This gathering was a fruitful blend of networking, relationship building, and brainstorming about how to enhance our customer services.
2021
The birth of a new yachting industry in Croatia
In our 2021 gratitude post, we acknowledged the emergence of a new yachting segment, partially driven by COVID's influence. Yacht Freedom, an 11-cabin superyacht and the latest addition to our fleet pioneered this shift. Following our inaugural PR trip on Freedom, industry experts' feedback exceeded expectations, signaling a new era in Croatia's yachting industry.
2020
The year of Covid
Despite a challenging year, about 30% of our customers chartered their booked yachts, with most deferring their holidays to next year. We introduced DS Yachts, previously luxury cabin charters, now reimagined due to COVID. Early adaptors like yachts Yolo, Ohana, and Freedom exceeded expectations, paving the way for a new yachting segment.
2019
The organization of the largest gala event for Croatian Yacht owners
One of the most successful years for Goolets ended with a big bang. To show appreciation to our best partners in Croatia, we invited all gulet owners, along with some yacht owners to Bled Castle, where we spent a memorable night. It is hard to describe in words, but the entire evening was the perfect time to reflect and be grateful for everything Goolets and our partners have achieved so far.
After a lot of thought, we decided to aim higher. We wanted to make something truly meaningful, and so we asked ourselves what are we most passionate about. The answer was clear.
Our team goes above and beyond in providing customer service and satisfaction, and we really go all-in when it comes to giving good advice and matching the best gulets, routes, and activities with the right group structure.
With this and the effort we put into our clients’ travel and holiday preparations, we decided to increase these efforts tenfold. Our plan for the future was:
“Becoming the number one yachting company in the world when it comes to sales and customer support.”
We wanted to be realistic – we know it will not be possible to compete with yachting behemoths in terms of our company or in how much revenue we might make, but we do know we can be better in customer support. And this is what we aimed to achieve in the next 5 years.
2018 - 2016
During these years we:
- expanded the team across Slovenia, Croatia, and Turkey, and added larger yachts to our portfolio
- shifted our focus towards fostering a positive company culture
- established a robust office in Turkey, resulting in outstanding client feedback
- reached a peak in workforce expansion, boosting service quality and product offerings
- moved to a larger office and expanded to new destinations
2015
Company CEOs tie the knot on a gulet and send the right message
In a romantic culmination of over a decade together, Goolets CEOs Alenka and Mitja Mirtič passionately sealed their love by exchanging vows on a gulet. Their nuptials, held on the very vessel that defines their business, was not only a testament to their personal commitment but also a testament to their deep-seated love for gulet cruises. They romantically conveyed to all clients and partners that a gulet isn't just an ideal vacation spot, but a magical venue to celebrate love and marriage.
2014
Switching from cruising to yachting
This year marked an epoch in our understanding of our own business. A decade into our journey, we discovered we weren't just in the business of "doing cruises" as we'd been saying; we were in the boutique luxury yacht charter business. The awakening came in 2014, when two pivotal events illuminated our expanded identity, revealing that we were about much more than just cruises.
At the WTM travel market show, one of the largest global fairs, we proudly showcased our Luxury Gulet Cruises from our dedicated booth to tour operators worldwide. Simultaneously, we launched several Facebook marketing campaigns, targeting those with a passion for luxury cruising, thus creating a broad, multifaceted approach to our outreach.
We failed in both things. At WTM, all the tour operators were very interested, until they realized how much work goes into planning for each group. We realized then that this is truly a boutique service, and belongs very much in the luxury yacht region and not your typical cruise package. Facebook gave us the final answer, where we showed gulets to people that like yachting compared to those who like cruising – and realized the feedback in the yachting market was much, much better.
2013
The year brought a surprising revelation: we weren't in the business of gulets, cruises, or yachts. Instead, our key offering was customer support. Our primary service became providing sound advice, preparing for cruises, and orchestrating the whole experience. This eye-opening discovery was encapsulated in a pioneering one-minute video that succinctly showcased our unique service offering, a novelty in the market.
2012-2005
It all began in 2005, when Alenka and Mitja, soon to be wed, hatched a visionary plan: to establish a World Gulet Association uniting all gulets. Though this concept didn't materialize despite earning second place in a competition, it paved the way for a brilliant new idea – Goolets! The couple eagerly aspired to showcase their enterprise and its ethos to a global audience.
