About Freedom Boating Holidays
Freedom Boating Holidays was formed in 2007 to provide quality holidays aboard well appointed cabin cruisers on the Norfolk Broads without breaking the bank. Our value for money holidays are, in part, possible due to the conscious decision to not use one of the traditional booking agents, instead selling direct to the holiday maker and passing on the savings gained by not paying commission to an agent.
Although small, Freedom Boating Holiday has built an entirely new hire boat fleet quickly using quality cruisers that are entirely typical on the Norfolk Broads. Being a famly business, Freedom focuses on good, old-fashioned service.
The Norfolk Broads once hosted over 4000 hire boats and the area was awash with tourists throughout the year. That was in the 1970s and since then we've seen a steady decline in the number of boats and, indeed, the number of businesses. Today, there are fewer than 1000 hire boats and long running operators are closing their doors each season as competition from package holidays and cheap flights mounts. It is therefore surprising that Freedom Boating Holidays should want to risk investing in a new business.
"Freedom Boating Holidays is the small business answer to Norfolk Broads Holidays", says Andrew Banner, Managing Director. "Although not a native to Norfolk, I spent almost all of my childhood holidays on a hire boat on the Broads and was lucky enough to be able to move to the area in 2003. In my lifetime, I've seen the heyday of the industry in the 70s and the poor relation that it has now become. Many of the remaining operators are huge businesses with overheads to match and there is now space for a new, smaller business to enter the market, providing quality cruisers at a more advantageous price point".
