What Aqua Tours does

Aqua Tours is a privately held sailing-charter broker and tour operator headquartered in Wenden, Germany, that aggregates roughly 200 traditional Dutch sailing vessels — flat-bottoms, clippers, schooners, tjalken, and converted historical cargo ships — across 18 ports in the Netherlands and Germany. The company sells whole-ship and cabin-berth charters across three sailing regions: the Dutch IJsselmeer and Wadden Sea (with Harlingen as the largest concentration at 60+ ships), the Zeeland waters in the southwestern Delta, and the German Baltic Sea coast primarily out of Kiel.

Its core products are organized by buyer segment: multi-day school class trips (Klassenfahrten), corporate team-building events (Teambuildung), club and association outings (Vereinsfahrten), and individual sailor bookings through a dedicated portal (mitsegeln.aquatours.de). The fleet range supports groups of 8 to 48 persons, with weekend charters priced from roughly €1,980 to €7,935 and full-week luxury vessels (e.g., the 58-meter Soeverein, 62-meter Mare fan Fryslân) commanding rates up to €20,910. The operator differentiates on consolidated inventory, no booking fees, a best-price guarantee, and partnership-backed travel-price insolvency insurance.

The business model is direct-to-consumer booking through the company's own websites, with phone/email inquiry handling for group and corporate reservations out of the German office. Marine operations are decentralized across Dutch and German harbors; the Wenden office functions as the central sales, scheduling, and customer-service node rather than an operating harbor. The company is small (11–50 employees), owner-operated, and has no disclosed external investors, parent entities, or M&A activity in the source data.

Name

Aqua Tours

Legal name

aqua tours

Website

https://aquatours.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Aqua Tours is a German-based sailing charter broker aggregating roughly 200 traditional Dutch vessels across 18 ports in the Netherlands and Germany, selling group and individual charters to schools, corporate teams, clubs, and individual sailors on the IJsselmeer, Wadden Sea, and Baltic Sea.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Maritime Charter Services

NAICS

Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Water (487210), Coastal and Great Lakes Passenger Transportation (483114)

SIC

Water Transportation (4400), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Charters & Yacht Experiences (Crewed, Bareboat, Day Charters) (THAJAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Small-Ship Expedition Cruises (Under ~500 Guests) (THAEADAC), Luxury Yacht & Small-Ship Expedition Cruises (THAEABAF)

Keywords

• Sailing charter services
• Group sailing trips
• Corporate team building
• School class excursions
• Maritime tourism

Headquarters

HQ city

Wenden

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices21 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Sailing Charter Rental: The primary revenue stream comes from chartering traditional sailing vessels to groups and individuals. Pricing varies by vessel size, trip duration (weekend, school week, short week, full week), and season. Additional revenue is generated through optional services such as end cleaning fees, bedding rental, and insurance fees. No booking fees are charged to customers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Aqua Tours is a sailing charter broker and aggregator that provides access to approximately 200 traditional Dutch flat-bottomed sailing vessels (Plattbodenschiffe, clippers, schooners, tjalken) stationed across 18 ports in the Netherlands and Germany. The company offers multi-day sailing trips across the IJsselmeer, Wadden Sea, Zeeland, and Baltic Sea for groups of 8 to 48 persons, organized by customer segment including school classes, corporate teams, clubs/associations, and individual sailors seeking shared sailing experiences.

Product overview

Aqua Tours is a sailing charter company offering group sailing trips on IJsselmeer, the Wadden Sea, and the Baltic Sea. The company operates a fleet of approximately 200 flat-bottomed sailing vessels (Klipper, Schoner, Tjalk, and other traditional Dutch ship types) stationed across 18 ports in the Netherlands and Germany. Their core products include sailing tours organized by target segment: school class trips (Klassenfahrten), team building trips (Teambuildung), club and association trips (Vereinsfahrten), and individual sailing opportunities (Mitsegeln). Ships range from smaller vessels accommodating 8-12 passengers to large vessels like the 58-meter Soeverein and 62-meter Mare fan Fryslân that can carry 40-48 guests. The company provides additional services including a best price guarantee and travel price security insurance. Booking is handled through their German office in Wenden, with vessels departing from ports including Enkhuizen, Harlingen, Stavoren, Kiel, and others.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sailing Trips - IJsselmeer / Wadden Sea

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Travelworks: Travelworks is a German operator offering sailing trips, workaway experiences, and adventure travel primarily in Northern European and Mediterranean waters. Comparable to Aqua Tours as a German-speaking market sailing-trip operator with similar target audiences (individuals and small groups), with overlap in the German school and youth group segments.

Direct peers

• Sailogy: Sailogy is an online charter platform specializing in sailing yacht rentals across the Mediterranean and other European waters. It is directly comparable to Aqua Tours as a digital sailing-charter aggregator, though it focuses more on bareboat/self-skippered yacht rentals versus Aqua Tours' crewed traditional-vessel group charters.
• Windseeker: Windseeker is a Dutch operator offering tall-ship sailing trips and "join a sailing trip" experiences in northern European waters. Comparable to Aqua Tours in operating traditional sailing vessels and targeting individuals and groups seeking multi-day sailing experiences, with significant overlap in Dutch/Northern European geography.
• Klassenfahrten.de: Klassenfahrten.de is a German online platform for booking school class trips across multiple destination types. Comparable to Aqua Tours' school class trip (Klassenfahrten) segment, though as a multi-destination aggregator it competes for the same German school-trip wallet share that Aqua Tours addresses specifically with sailing trips.
• SamBoat: SamBoat is a leading European boat rental marketplace connecting renters with private boat owners across multiple vessel categories including sailing yachts. It competes with Aqua Tours in the online aggregation of charter inventory and offers a similar direct-to-consumer booking experience, though at a broader (motor + sail) and more individual-renter focus.
• Yachtico: Yachtico is a European online yacht charter platform that aggregates sailing yacht and boat rentals from multiple operators and owners. Directly comparable to Aqua Tours' aggregator model for sailing charters, though typically more focused on bareboat yacht rentals than traditional heritage vessels.
• ClassicSail: ClassicSail offers classic and traditional sailing vessel charters in European waters, including tall ships and heritage vessels. Directly comparable to Aqua Tours' focus on traditional Dutch sailing ships and multi-day charter experiences for groups and individuals.
• BoatJump: BoatJump is an online boat rental platform operating across European destinations including sailing vessels. Comparable to Aqua Tours as a digital charter aggregator, with a comparable direct-to-consumer booking model, though more focused on individual rental transactions than group charters.
• MedSailors: MedSailors offers group sailing holidays in the Mediterranean for solo travelers and small groups, with a similar "join a sailing trip" model to Aqua Tours' Mitsegeln platform. Comparable as a peer sailing-charter operator targeting social/group bookings rather than full-vessel private charters.

Broad incumbents

• GetMyBoat: GetMyBoat is the world's largest boat rental marketplace, operating globally with broad vessel coverage including sailing, motor, and yacht charters. It is comparable to Aqua Tours as a broader incumbent in the online boat-charter aggregation space, with significantly greater scale and geographic reach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aqua-tours

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aqua Tours