Çetin Korkut: Yacht Broker & Founder of Gulet Group International Brokerage.

Çetin Korkut was born on January 15, 1969, in Eskiköy-Ortaca, Muğla and he grew up in Dalyan. He graduated Dalyan Secondary School and Ortaca High School.

1986 – Took his first step into marine world. He started working at Albatros Bareboat Yacht Co. in Marmaris. His continuous improvement in yachting market lead him carry on his education; he studied English language and graduated Marine Marketing in UK.

1987 – He worked as a technical personnel at Albatros Bareboat Yachting Co.

1988 – He was promoted as the chief of technical department. In the same year he socially started sailing.

1989 – He started to work at Motif Tourism (allied company of Albatros), Bodrum as a division manager. He experienced about winterizing and alteration of boats. He completed sea survivor and lifesaving courses. He has attended in numerous sailing competitions and won several prizes. He was only 19 years old when he was entrusted to deliver the high priced yachts to different destinations as a skipper.

1990 – He completed his national service.

1991 – He was a shipyard field manager. He purchased his own wooden boat (13 meters). Winterizing and maintaining his boat has given him an opportunity of improving his skills and experiences about wooden boats.

1992 - He established his own company with a name of GIZ Yacht, providing technical and consultancy yacht services. Within 2 years he developed his company by including brokerage and charter departments. With his Certificate Of Marine Marketing, he is one of the first licensed yacht brokers in Turkey. In 1994, GIZ Yacht was one of the first brokerage companies of Turkey using a computer network and has increased her popularity with advertisements through internet.

1995 – He started providing international brokerage services through his foreign connections. In the same year, he was the first broker to accomplish selling the first gulet to Malta.

1996 – He was rewarded as the best yacht broker by a yacht magazine. Same year, he was one of the first brokers to sell a gulet to Croatia.

1997 – Yachting World magazine started publishing his articles about the second hand gulets.

2 August 1998 – After a bitter sea accident he had a spinal paralysation and from that day on he continued his own way to success on a wheelchair.

2000 – Upon doctor’s advises, he moved his company to Marmaris considering the adequate geographic conditions of the location.

2001 – Along with his brokerage career, he started as a columnist in one of the local newspapers publishing articles about disable people’s problems and solutions, the rights of disable community.

2002 – He established a brokerage and charter company under the name of Gulet Show (Gulet Tourism Ltd.). He created new markets in brokerage and succeeded to sell gulets to Maldives, Malta, South Africa, Japan, Thailand and USA along with many other European countries.

2003 – With HRT (Croatian National TV) he made a documentary subjecting a blue voyage from Turkey to Croatia, he took place in this documentary as a commentator about gulets and brokerage.

2004 – With Mr. Haluk Cecan; known as Cousteau of Turkey, he organized a seminar about the underwater beauties of Turkey and the history of Turkish wooden boats with the attendance of world famous participants;

In the same year he made a second organization with Mr. Haluk Cecan which took place on a 45 meters classic Turkish woden boat. The theme of the organization was diving of disabled people who has never had this chance before. There were 120 disabled participants; 30 from Holland and 90 from Turkey. This diving experience of disabled guests was shouted as a short film and projected to public. Numerous welknown guest were invited to this organization;

2005 – He founded the Marmaris branch of Turkey Association Of Spinal Paralytic (TOFD) and served as president for 4 years.

2006 – His company reached up to 300 gulets listed for sale that was the biggest data base in Turkey. In the same year he started writing articles as an editor and consulting a yachting magazine (Yachting Compass) which has a circulation of 10,000 copies.
He voluntarily continued his social services for the disabled community. He has organized numerous seminars and sports organizations.

2007 – He extended the variety of company services; yacht building, technical services, maintenance, charter management, yacht delivery and consultancy was combined with the brokerage services under his current company, Gulet International Brokerage & Charters.

2009 – Together with running his own company, he is currently the sales and marketing consultant of İstanbul & Bodrum based company, Setmarin which is manufacturing a new brand of sailing boat; Likia 40.

Not only providing services to the prospective purchasers but also by providing services to yacht sellers, he developed the largest data base of yachts. Now he shares all his experience and knowledge through his website www.guletgroup.com which is to be updated periodically.

His future Projects

• Broker’s Guide (A guide book to yacht brokers)
• Buyer’s & Seller’s Guide (A guide book to whom wants to sell or buy a gulet)
• Guletnews.com (online yachting newspaper)