From the Caribbean to Australia’s east coast, Oyster’s latest world rally promises a bluewater voyage designed for owners seeking ultimate sailing experiences.
2 min
British luxury yacht builder Oyster Yachts has announced plans for its next flagship global adventure, the Oyster World Rally 2030–31, a fully supported circumnavigation designed exclusively for owners of its bluewatersailing yachts.
The 16-month voyage will cover about 27,000 nautical miles across three oceans, beginning in Antigua in January 2030 and taking participants through some of the world’s most celebrated cruising destinations, including Australia’s east coast.
Limited to just 30 yachts, the rally is positioned as both a structured and flexible experience, allowing owners to explore independently while benefiting from comprehensive logistical, technical and safety support from a dedicated Oyster team.
Richard Hadida, Owner and Chairman of Oyster Yachts, said: “The Oyster World Rally represents the very essence of our brand.
“Oyster yachts are built to cross oceans in safety, comfort and style, and the Rally is the ultimate expression of that capability.
“But beyond the yachts themselves, it is about enabling extraordinary life experiences.
“To see owners commit to a dream that may have been decades in the making, and to support them as they realise it, is something very special. The Rally embodies our belief that time is the greatest luxury of all.”
Unlike competitive sailing events, the rally is non-racing and does not require yachts to travel in close formation.
Participants are free to diverge from the main fleet to explore remote anchorages or sail in smaller groups before reconnecting at designated ports.
Preparation begins well before departure, with an extensive training programme launched 18 months in advance.
Workshops, masterclasses and online seminars cover meteorology, navigation, yacht systems, medical and safety readiness, provisioning and passage planning, helping crews build the confidence required for a full circumnavigation.
Allie Smith, Director of Oyster Rallies and Training, said: “The Oyster World Rally is about community above all else.
“Every owner joins for a different reason, and every Rally develops its own character shaped by those taking part.
“Our team are all experienced sailors, from logistics to technical support, and that shared experience builds real trust.
“What makes this Rally so special is the balance it offers: complete freedom to explore at your own pace, combined with the reassurance that our team is with you every step of the way.
“Watching owners grow in confidence, form lifelong friendships and complete a circumnavigation remains one of the most rewarding parts of what we do.”
Owners planning to commission a new yacht for the rally are advised to allow a three- to four-year lead time, reflecting Oyster’s limited production capacity and the importance of a thorough shakedown period before departure.
Entries for the Oyster World Rally 2030–31 opened on March 3, with strong demand anticipated following the success of previous editions and growing momentum behind the brand’s global circumnavigation programme.
BNW Developments has established a Sydney presence, joining Arada and Sobha Realty among the growing number of UAE developers pursuing Australian buyers and development opportunities.
The Australian leather house has opened an immersive four-day pop-up in Manhattan, unveiling its Bloom Collection and redefining what a product launch can look like.
AI-powered travel agents are challenging online booking platforms, but Airbnb’s exclusive listings and direct customer relationships could give it an edge. Its next challenge: turning repeat guests into loyal customers through stronger rewards and innovation.
3 min
AI agents like Muse can already find you the cheapest hotel room in Paris. But they can’t locate a cheaper version of that Catskills cabin you’ve been eyeing, because it might only be available on Airbnb ABNB -1.43%decrease.
Investors should pay attention to that distinction. When Meta Platforms META 3.38%increase launched its Muse agent last month, travel stocks including Booking Holdings BKNG -1.19%decrease, Expedia and Airbnb all fell sharply.
Airbnb, though, has a real chance to emerge as a winner from the upheaval. The catch: Its stock already reflects above-industry growth. To justify its valuation, Airbnb will need to turn repeat customers into loyal ones.
Online travel companies make much of their money by simplifying search and collecting fees on bookings. AI agents threaten that model.
But not all travel marketplaces are equally exposed. Booking and Expedia largely sell hotel rooms that travelers can also book directly or through competing sites. If an agent can find the same room elsewhere, it has little reason to favor either Booking or Expedia.
Booking and Expedia also sell sponsored listings that steer travelers toward particular properties. Wells Fargo estimates those will account for about 8% of Expedia’s revenue and a much higher percentage of profit next year.
Airbnb has more ways to adapt. More than half its listings are available only on its platform, and more than 90% of its traffic comes directly to its app or website.
The customer relationship doesn’t end after booking, either. Bernstein analyst Richard Clarke notes that 90% of Airbnb guests go on to message their hosts about arrival times, keys or local taxes, giving Airbnb a connection to both sides of the transaction.
How the companies have responded to the possible agentic future is telling.
Expedia quickly signed on as a Muse partner. Airbnb hasn’t, and Chief Executive Brian Chesky says AI chatbots have so far been a boon, sending customers to Airbnb’s website.
Chatbots might work for buying paper towels, he quipped at a Skift conference last month, but people enjoy planning trips. He argued that browsing dozens of homes isn’t something a text-based chatbot is well suited for.
Still, the AI jitters arrived just as Airbnb was persuading investors it deserved its pricey multiple. For years after its 2020 initial public offering, the stock—which trades around 25 to 30 times forward earnings—went nowhere. Investors saw a mature operator trading at a growth premium.
This year, Airbnb growth seems to be accelerating. The stock jumped in August after the company raised its full-year revenue-growth guidance with its second-quarter results. Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski credits a run of product improvements under a revamped leadership team.
Among the changes: letting guests reserve now and pay later, adding hotels, and a redesigned home page and app. Investors were also betting on what comes next, including thousands more hotels, car rentals and, eventually, advertising.
The irony is that some of those growth drivers push Airbnb closer to the kind of business Booking and Expedia run—the kind of business AI agents could threaten. Even if AI agents capture a large share of travel planning and booking, Airbnb would capture the demand. But it and others would slowly lose control over how customers find and choose properties.
That would undermine the advertising opportunity investors are counting on. The bigger point for Airbnb and other marketplaces is that losing control of customer acquisition could mean surrendering some of their pricing power and margins.
To bulletproof itself, Airbnb might look to another e-commerce giant that has so far kept AI agents at arm’s length: Amazon.
Like Amazon, Airbnb has a loyal customer base and hard-to-match supply. But it has nothing like Prime membership to make customers think twice before taking their business elsewhere.
That is where loyalty comes in. Business travelers stick with Hilton or Marriott because enough nights earn them perks. Leisure travelers rarely accumulate stays with one chain. Airbnb has millions of listings and plenty of repeat customers, but no broad rewards program. It has begun experimenting with credits on hotel stays, but it should make loyalty a priority, not just a promotion.
Airbnb also plans to launch its own AI agent next year. But travelers using an agent might still want it to search Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking and hotel websites alike, rather than limit itself to one company’s inventory.
Eventually, Airbnb might have to strike deals with agent makers, using its unique homes as leverage to negotiate favorable terms, says Gawrelski. Such deals, along with rewards for loyal guests, could over the long term eat into the company’s roughly 13% take rate, he adds. But if they bring in enough additional bookings, the trade-off could be worthwhile.
History offers a reason not to panic. The shift from desktop to mobile unsettled investors in Alphabet and Amazon, but both emerged as major beneficiaries. Companies with valuable assets can come out of a platform shift stronger, if they adapt quickly enough.
Airbnb has homes the bots can’t easily replace. Now it needs to give guests a reason to insist on booking them there.
