Salone Nautico treasure of 60 million euros for Liguria- Corriere.it

It is no coincidence that the headquarters of Confindustria Nautica is in Genoa. Because in Genoa, which has been held for 62 years what – over time and a lot of sweat – has established itself as the main Mediterranean boat show and one of the most important in the world. Also because, together with Genoa, all of Liguria has shipyards pumping work and profits into the great sea of ​​Italian GDP. In terms of shipbuilding production, after all, Liguria is the second region in Italy in terms of production value (over 216 million euros) after Tuscany. It ranks first in relative terms, with a shipbuilding production value of 0.48% of the regional total, more than any other Italian region. As far as employees are concerned, it is the fourth region but first in terms of percentage share of regional employees. Another important item is nautical tourism, where first for the number of pleasure craft registered (almost 19,000 out of 95,000), first for nautical licenses issued (about 6,900 out of 42,000) and second for the number of berths available (over 21,500 out of 166 thousand).

Expression of Made in Italy

And then there is the Genoa Boat Show which, as the vice president of Confindustria Nautica Andrea Razeto explains, is a consolidated point of reference for excellence in the Made in Italy sector: an event which is a real strategic asset for presenting, consolidating and promoting companies and their products on foreign markets. The Show grew up with the pleasure boating industry in Italy, interpreting its value and acting as a driving force for one of the most dynamic segments of the country’s economy, which stands out for its ability to create a system both nationally and territorially and for the strong investment in quality, expertise, innovation and sustainability. it is also the privileged stage for discussions with the institutions on issues of importance for the sector and on strategic industrial policies for its growth. With its 62 years, the Show – adds Razeto – has confirmed itself as the engine of development of a sector that this year recorded the best increase in turnover ever, with a growth of 31% compared to 2020 and an exploit of exports which, in the year ending in March 2022, they reached an all-time high of 3.37 billion euros.

The economic impact

Not only that: the data relating to the multipliers of the pleasure boating chain – 9.2 for employment and 7.5 for added value – are the highest among the economies of the sea. The Show generates an economic value of approximately 12.5 million euros in the Genoa area, which is estimated at 60 million euros considering the total value in Liguria. In short, a strong driving force for the regional economy which, based on recent data released by the Bank of Italy, continued to grow in the first three quarters of 2022 even if, says Palazzo Koch, the prospects for the next few months are characterized by significant margins of uncertainty related to the unavailability and the rise in prices of some production factors (including energy), as well as the evolution of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Industrial production in the strict sense slowed down, marking a marginal increase, while turnover, also supported by the dynamics of prices, rose more widely. The operators’ short-term forecasts point to a substantial stability in production volumes.

Tourists, passengers and port

Tourist flows have increased and, since May, attendance has exceeded pre-pandemic levels. The number of passengers in transit through Ligurian ports has also risen, while commercial maritime traffic has slowed down. Liguria is the nerve center of the country as regards every sector of the blue economy– comments the president of the Liguria Region Giovanni Toti – : first for pleasure boat yards, first for refitting of mega yachts, first for number of marinas, in constant growth. Liguria hosts the main port system in Italy with the ports of La Spezia, Genoa Sampierdarena, Genoa Voltri, Savona and Vado Ligure, where the main players in world shipping operate: Msc, Maersk, Apag-Lloyd, Cma-Cdm, Cosco. A port system which, with the new dam in the port of Genoa and the high capacity of the third railway crossing, will be further strengthened by 2025. That of cruises, with the strongest port system in the Mediterranean, a sector that is still growing with the new Maritime Station of La Spezia and the doubling of the Genoese one – explains Toti again -. And, again, the system of ferries and motorways of the sea. A fundamental piece of logistics and therefore of the competitiveness of the country system passes through Liguria. Now, after the investment effort on infrastructure, among the most impressive in Italy, new rules are also needed to compete with the large port systems of Northern Europe.