Metarina, one of the 15 startups showcasing at the new Start-Up Pavilion at METSTRADE this week, is building a marina software that ‘bridges the gap between boaters and marinas, streamlining communication and optimising operations to increase revenue and customer satisfaction.’

Nicola Isabel Kienzle, co-founder of Metarina says the Metarina marina software empowers customer-focused marina teams by providing a next-generation solution that includes occupancy planning, booking, billing and analytics. “This set of capabilities not only increases customer satisfaction, but also becomes a powerful tool to help marina businesses grow and operate with greater efficiency, differentiating us from the competition,” says Kienzle.

The technology comes at a time when Kienzle has noted a strong need for digitalisation in the leisure marine market and new-gen consumers who are keen for streamlining and efficiency.

“The evolution within our consumer base is palpable,” says Kienzle, “marked by a generational shift that is ushering in modern marinas to cater for a new generation of boaters. While other leisure and hospitality sectors have seen rapid progress, the boating industry is gradually charting its course towards modernisation to ensure it keeps pace with consumer expectations and technological advances.

“We’ve designed Metarina as a modular software solution, ensuring that it can be tailored to meet the unique requirements of different marinas. Our approach is not just to provide software, but to provide a full service with dedicated support from the Metarina team. Our tool is celebrated for being the first to enable marinas to actively drive business growth by transforming their customer engagement through technology, ensuring that marinas not only meet their current operational needs, but also capitalise on opportunities to expand their business and improve the customer experience.”

Kienzle says if the industry could build confidence within marinas about the power of technology, it would significantly help companies such as Metarina. “This involves advocating a paradigm shift towards recognising technology as an enabler rather than a threat, and ensuring collaboration between technology providers and marina operators. As technology can only enhance the effectiveness of its users, Metarina places a strong emphasis on supporting marina teams to ensure that technology is used to its full potential.”

According to Kienzle, there are big opportunities in the market, mainly in the form of huge scope for operational and experiential improvements within marinas that will not only make the lives of marina staff easier, but also increase boater satisfaction. “However, a significant challenge lurks in the form of resistance from individuals who are still entrenched in traditional methods and reluctant to embrace technological advances,” she adds.

As such, one of the biggest lessons since the team at Metarina started their journey in the maritime SaaS sector has been the importance of patience, both with internal and external stakeholders. Kienzle conculdes: “Our team has, from the outset, demonstrated an immense intrinsic drive to foster improvement within the industry, demonstrating a long-term commitment and a consistent willingness to navigate through various challenges with a collective spirit of perseverance and innovation.”

This year, METSTRADE and Yachting Ventures are teaming up to introduce the new Start-Up Pavilion – a platform for emerging startups to showcase their latest products and technologies, which will be running for the duration of the trade show in Hall 7.

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