Latest survey of boat owners’ views
The survey, carried out in March and April this year, was sent to a third of CRT’s boat licence holders and received 1,163 responses. The headline results show a decline in boaters’ satisfaction:
| (%) 2019 | (%) 2018 |
Boaters satisfied with their experience of cruising the waterways | 61 | 70 |
Would recommend the waterways to other boaters | 58 | 76 |
Overall upkeep rated as OK to excellent | 69 | 74 |
Feel they know the Trust very well or a fair amount | 59 | 53 |
Trust the charity to look after the waterways | 56 | 62 |
Feel favourable to the Trust | 47 | 54 |
Narrowboat owners were the most positive, with 65% expressing satisfaction with their boating experience. Across the regions, boaters in the West Midlands and East Midlands were most satisfied, at 68% and 67% respectively, while continuous cruisers also expressed satisfaction levels of 65%. Boaters in Yorkshire and the North East were least satisfied, with only 48% expressing satisfaction.
Jon Horsfall, Head of Customer Service Support, said: “We are disappointed in the drop in boater satisfaction. We recognise the past year has been one of change for our customers, including changes to the prompt payment discount and increased licence fees for boat owners with wider boats. We also acknowledge the impact of last year’s drought and the effects of unpredictable infrastructure failures on customers throughout the year. I thank everyone who has taken part in the survey and would like to give all our boating customers the assurance that boating and navigation is at the very heart of everything we do.”
The full survey report will be published on the Trust’s website.
