Most yacht brokers know very little about the Galapagos Islands and consider them as a complicated destination. In order to understand how Galapagos works we need to go back few years into the past. 97.5% of the Galapagos Islands surface was declare a national park by the Ecuadorian government in 1959 and in 1986 the 70.000 square kilometers surrounding the archipelago were declare a marine reserve. The status of the Galapagos Islands as a national park was complemented with several regulations for the tourism activities.

Galapagos is well known around the world for its unique ecosystem and most people had heard about them at some point. The tourism activities within the protected areas are regulated by the national park administration, the park is responsible to enforce the rules at all levels.

Many tour operators claim to be the yachts owner and this is far from being truth, the main problem is that there is not an association who will regulate prices and service onboard the yachts operating at the archipelago and the competition is brutal; the lack of reliable information is the main reason why yacht brokers have that perception of Galapagos in addition to the mess on the internet where hundreds of web pages sell the same yachts with different prices and they all claim them self’s as the yachts operator, this whole scenario makes Galapagos less attractive for yacht brokers who are not willing to take the risk on a destination where basic things are not that clear. Logistics at the Islands are also a complication; everything is shipped from mainland Ecuador and there is certain produces that are forbidden to enter the archipelago due to conservation policies.

Companies like Galapagos Luxury Charters are trying to educate yacht brokers giving them real information on how the destination works. G.L.C has been working with yacht brokers explaining and assisting them on what to do in order to have successful charters at this unique destination, taking care of all necessary logistics and upgrading the yacht’s service with a professional bilingual staff. Galapagos Luxury Charters knows both the Galapagos Islands regulations and the luxury yachting industry needs, making us an exceptional allied for yacht brokers wishing to include this wonderful islands on their charter destination list.