Clarice Jamain on the Future of Luxury Maritime Tourism in Indonesia

The definition of ultra-luxury travel is shifting away from static, land-based exclusivity toward a deeper, more fluid connection with nature and heritage. In Southeast Asia, this evolution is taking place on the water. For Clarice Jamain, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Pacific High Indonesia, luxury yachting isn't about replicating European superyachts with fiberglass hulls. It is about honoring centuries-old craftsmanship while matching the sophisticated demands of the modern, international traveler.

With fourteen years of experience at one of Asia’s most respected yacht brokerage houses, Jamain has viewed the maritime ecosystem from every angle, from brokerage and chartering to new builds. Her perspective on Indonesian private charter was permanently shaped in January 2005 when she stepped onto the Silolona in Langkawi. Walking the decks of the legendary vessel, she realized that luxury could be entirely indigenous. Today, at Pacific High, she helps oversee an in-house operation that designs, builds, owns, and runs a premier fleet of handcrafted phinisi yachts, including Nataraja, Senja, Dewata, and Sanya.

Cruise tourism is fundamentally an exercise in scale, built around thousands of passengers, fixed ports, and standardized itineraries. The phinisi model stands as its direct antithesis. Hand-built in Bira, Sulawesi, by builders whose families have passed down construction techniques for generations, these ironwood vessels are designed for deep exclusivity rather than volume.

“The most important lesson is to respect the craft, or you'll lose the product," Jamain notes. "What makes a phinisi worth chartering at this level is the craftsmanship itself: the ironwood hulls, the joinery, the silhouette... That heritage is the entire reason a guest chooses a phinisi, and modernizing too aggressively erodes the very thing they are paying for.”

This framework reshapes the guest journey entirely. Operating with a high crew-to-guest ratio that mirrors a private villa rather than a cruise liner, a phinisi accommodates tiny single-party groups. Instead of waiting in lines for scheduled tenders, guests drop anchor in remote bays that large ships cannot physically enter, dictating their own rhythms.

However, maintaining historical authenticity does not mean sacrificing modern luxuries. "Guests today rightly expect the usual comforts, air conditioning, good Wi-Fi, and food that holds its own against any land-based resort," says Jamain. "Our job at Pacific High is to layer those modern expectations onto the boat without compromising what makes her a phinisi in the first place. The skill is knowing which things to improve and which things to leave exactly as they are."

As the luxury market matures, destination preferences are shifting. Remote frontiers like Raja Ampat, once reserved exclusively for expedition travelers and serious divers, have transformed into primary charter destinations for multi-generational families. Jamain points out that Indonesia holds four distinct competitive advantages that traditional yachting hubs like the Mediterranean or Thailand simply cannot replicate:

• Scale and Geography: Over 17,000 islands providing vast cruising grounds where an itinerary can run for weeks without repeating an anchorage.
• Unrivaled Biodiversity: Cruising grounds that sit at the heart of the Coral Triangle and unique wildlife reserves like Komodo National Park.
• Cultural Depth: Authentic community engagement in destinations like Sumba, Banda, or the Forgotten Islands.
• The Vessel Itself: The phinisi is completely unique to Indonesia. While superyachts look identical globally, the phinisi carries an irreplaceable sense of place.

Despite these natural advantages, operational realities in remote island chains remain complex. Operating luxury fleets in these regions requires pre-positioning high-end provisions and fuel hundreds of nautical miles in advance. Furthermore, eastern Indonesia suffers from a shortage of dedicated marina infrastructure, meaning most embarkations occur via tender from small remote jetties or beaches.

Beyond physical logistics, operating in delicate marine ecosystems requires navigating intricate, highly fragmented regional policies. To unlock the full economic power of Indonesia’s maritime sector, Jamain advocates for structural coordination over sweeping policy overhauls.

“If I could pick one, it would be the harmonisation of marine park access and fee structures," Jamain explains. "A unified national framework, one that sets clear rules on access, fees, conservation levies, and permit timelines across all marine parks, would do two things at once. It would make Indonesia far easier to operate in... and it would give the parks themselves a more reliable revenue stream to fund the conservation work they exist to do."

She emphasizes that high-end operators are not looking for discounted entry, but operational clarity: "Charter operators are not asking for cheaper access. We are asking for predictable access. Predictability is what allows us to plan, price, and sell itineraries twelve to eighteen months ahead, which is how the international luxury market actually buys.”

This commitment to predictability extends to Pacific High's sustainability philosophy. Rejecting corporate "greenwashing," Jamain acknowledges that all motorized vessels leave environmental footprints. The focus instead is on strict daily mitigation—banning single-use plastics, enforcing reef-safe anchoring, and actively funding foundations like the Misool Eco Foundation and Coral Catch.

Looking toward 2030, Jamain expects luxury yachting to become an instinctively recognized pillar of Indonesian hospitality, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with iconic luxury land resorts. This market maturity will naturally consolidate the sector, separating serious, long-term operators from seasonal opportunists.

For Pacific High, the next strategic phase involves breaking past the boundary of the shoreline. The group is leveraging its boat-building expertise to develop a waterfront real estate concept slated for launch in late 2026. This land-based expansion will be accompanied by an elite concierge division, aviation asset integration, and potential fleet expansions into neighboring Southeast Asian waters.

“The principles that make a phinisi charter work are the same ones we want to carry onto land: single-party privacy, a real relationship with the water, and service that is present without being performative," Jamain says. "We are translating the experience of having a stretch of coastline to yourself... Pacific High has spent years learning how to deliver intimacy at this scale on water. The land version is an extension of the same instinct, not a departure from it.”