Why Four Seasons Yachts Is Encouraging Guests to Leverage Travel Advisors

Skift Take

Beyond its innovative design ethos and distinctive service offerings, Four Seasons Yachts is making waves with a unique sales and distribution strategy built around a growing preference among affluent travelers to book trips with luxury travel advisors.

Four Seasons Yachts

This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner.

Driven by increased demand among travelers for exclusive, passion-centered experiences and seamless trip planning, luxury travel advisors have seen an uptick in bookings in recent years. Aligned with these trends and capitalizing on the growing popularity of private yacht charters, Four Seasons Yachts is aiming to create a best-in-class luxury travel experience that leverages the strength of the Four Seasons brand, with inaugural voyages starting in 2026.

“Four Seasons is capitalizing on its longstanding delivery of unparalleled service by investing in luxury experiences that offer guests new ways to connect with the brand, building further differentiation and enhancing brand awareness and preference among new and existing guests,” said Marc Speichert, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Four Seasons. “More and more, luxury travelers are looking for immersive, personalized, and worry-free travel — Four Seasons is well-equipped to deliver on this trend through our Jet, Drive, and Yacht experiences, providing a seamless end-to-end Four Seasons journey.”

SkiftX recently sat down with Nils Lindstad, vice president, business development and sales excellence at Marc-Henry Cruise Holdings LTD, joint owner and operator of Four Seasons Yachts, to discuss how the brand’s guest-focused approach to the in-journey experience is expressed in the booking phase with a travel advisor-friendly distribution strategy and novel customer experience (CX) technology that enables guests to add their travel advisors to their reservations seamlessly. 

Travel Advisor-Friendly Distribution 

Four Seasons Yachts recognizes the important relationship between guests and their travel advisors and the knowledge, insight, and guidance that a trusted travel advisor can provide. This approach not only simplifies the booking experience but also maintains the integrity of the travel advisor’s role.

“Our clients are used to being looked after in a very private, personal way,” Lindstad said. “That’s why we proactively encourage our guests to work with whomever they wish, and we reinforce that message in every marketing, sales, and distribution channel. We’ve also introduced Personal Yacht Consultants assigned to guests and their travel advisor of choice, providing dedicated support and a tailored and high-quality experience for each guest throughout their entire journey.” 

Client-Driven Digital Experience and Booking Technology

High-touch human interaction isn’t enough to ensure success within today’s luxury travel landscape, where expectations for seamless booking experiences are increasing. The human touch needs to be balanced with the efficiency, accessibility, and personalization capabilities of digital solutions. 

For Four Seasons Yachts, this means building out a client-driven digital experience with a set of technologies that enables clients to seamlessly add their preferred travel advisor to their reservation up to 60 days after booking. 

“This is an industry first,” Lindstad said. “Once a guest adds their travel advisor, we validate and register the travel advisor within our system, and then they become associated with that guest, and we can communicate with them. We register the travel advisor in a portal and provide a tool kit that allows them to easily pass along critical information to the guest and perform the standard of service the guest is accustomed to.” 

In addition, this tech stack includes booking mechanisms that handle the complexity of sea-based product preferences more effectively than traditional land-based central reservation systems. Sophisticated reservation systems integrate voyage bookings with additional services like transfers, land experiences, and onboard spa treatments, enhancing the pre-planning and guest information process.

Looking Ahead to 2026

Inaugural voyages are set to launch in 2026 with a selection of ports spanning yachting capitals from the Southern Caribbean to the Greek Isles, Ionian Sea, and Dalmatian Coast.

“Four Seasons Yachts will be synonymous with exclusive destinations, exceptional design, personalized service, and elegant onboard amenities,” Lindstad said. “In our debut year, we’ll explore more than 130 distinct destinations across 30 countries and territories. Momentum is building as bookings for specific itineraries open and I’m thrilled to be part of this journey.”

To view accommodations and itineraries, click here. To join the list for updates about Four Seasons Yachts, click here. To register your interest as a travel advisor for Four Seasons Yachts, click here. 

To learn more about additional Four Seasons immersive travel journeys, including the Four Seasons Private Jet Experience, click here.

This content was created collaboratively by Four Seasons Yachts and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX.