Dominion Marine Media’s BoatTrader.com, YachtWorld.com and boats.com join with Boatbound, the fastest growing peer-to-peer boat rental marketplace, to make boat ownership more affordable
Apr. 30, 2014 - SAN FRANCISCO – Dominion Marine Media, the division of Dominion Enterprises that operates BoatTrader.com, boats.com, and YachtWorld.com, announced today an exclusive partnership with peer-to-peer boat rental marketplace, Boatbound, further solidifying the integral role the sharing economy will play in the future growth of the boating industry.
This partnership will introduce Boatbound to the nearly 5 million unique monthly visitors of Dominion Marine Media owned properties, the most popular U.S. websites connecting boat buyers with boat sellers. According to BoatTrader user research based on third-party surveys and interviews conducted in the last quarter of 2013, of those 5 million website visitors, 69% own a boat and 19% are shopping for one. Dominion Marine Media’s partnership with Boatbound aims to stimulate the boating economy by leveraging Boatbound’s peer-to-peer platform to make boating more accessible.
“As providers of marketing and software solutions to boat brokers, dealers, private sellers and OEMs around the world, we are very much committed to finding new ways to grow the number of boating participants wherever possible. We have been watching the emergence of the sharing economy in boating and are excited to see the concept gaining traction through Boatbound. We are impressed by Boatbound’s business approach and the experience of their key executives, and we are keen to support their drive to grow the boating audience in general. Not only is it in the best interests of all our customers, we also enjoy seeing more people than ever getting excited about the boating lifestyle,” said Ian Atkins, Sr. vice president and general manager of Dominion Marine Media.
Dominion Marine Media’s network of dealers and brokers can now leverage Boatbound as a sales tool, offering buyers the ability to offset financial costs associated with a boat purchase, resulting in an easier purchase decision. “For many would-be boat owners, purchasing a boat is just out of their reach financially. By giving these non-traditional boat owners the ability to offset a percentage (or all) of the monthly boat payment by renting it through Boatbound, boat ownership can become a reality,” said Aaron Hall, Boatbound founder and CEO.
This partnership comes fresh on the heels of Boatbound’s recent announcement that the company received $2.5 million in a new financing round led by Brunswick Corporation (NYSE:BC), the owner of popular boat brands like SeaRay, Bayliner, Boston Whaler, and Mercury Marine, the largest manufacturer of recreational boat engines.
“Our common goal through these partnerships is to change people’s thinking about boat ownership. We believe that through Boatbound, boats will soon be considered assets such as owning a vacation rental property. As an industry leader, Dominion Marine Media has the unique ability to help usher in this new era in boating,” said Hall.
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About Dominion Marine Media (DMM):
Dominion Marine Media (DMM) is the Internet partner of choice for the recreational marine industry and operates the market leading web portals – boattrader.com, yachtworld.com, boats.com and most recently, cosasdebarcos.com. DMM is a division of Dominion Enterprises, a leading marketing services and publishing company that provides businesses with a comprehensive suite of technology-based marketing solutions including Internet advertising, lead generation, CRM, website design and hosting and data management services. DMM has offices in North America (Norfolk, Virginia; Seattle, Washington; and Vancouver, British Columbia) as well as in Europe (United Kingdom, Spain and Italy) and Australia. The company employs 150 people, has customers in 106 countries and advertises boats for sale in 166 countries. In 2013, over 52 million unique visitors spent time researching products on DMM web and mobile sites, apps and social media outlets. DMM’s global reach includes 23 localized web portals which are translated into 13 languages.
About Boatbound
Boatbound™, the nation’s fastest growing boat rental marketplace, gives the over 13 million registered boat owners a way to offset their ownership costs by renting their boat to pre-screened, qualified renters. Every rental includes up to $3 million in insurance protection from one of the most trusted insurers in the world, as well as on the water towing and support from Boat U.S. Whether you are looking for a boat for watersports or cruising, a fishing boat to explore a local fishing hole, or a sailboat to leisurely set sail, Boatbound creates safe and unique boat rental experiences at any price. Boatbound is free to join and has no monthly or membership fees