In Genoa, in a few days, Italy will turn blue. From 22 to 27 September the Boat Show will open, in its 62nd edition, but which is also celebrating its sixty years of life (1962 debut). It will be an exhibition with a smile on its face, because the made in Italy nautical sector is flying. Record turnover, skyrocketing production values, orders spread over time, new models that are increasingly beautiful and advanced. And lots and lots of exports. The growth of the nautical industry, says Saverio Cecchi, president of Confindustria nautica, is ahead of the made in Italy industry. The general manager of Confindustria nautica, Marina Stella, speaks of a double-digit increase, which exceeds + 30%. In short, a great moment, which also materializes with the presence of major brands for a total of 998 (42 companies on the waiting list), over 1000 boats (Mylius 80, Sanlorenzo SD 118, Black Shiver 160 by Novamarine, Capelli Tempest 50 and Prince 50 the flagships of the various “families”) with 168 novelties and public interest that already sees + 37% increase in booking / sale of admission tickets compared to 2021.
And this is obviously good for the Salone. A review that is transforming itself. In the layout, because if it is true that this year, as the CEO of I Saloni Nautici, Carla Demaria recalls, is adapting to the course of the works for the new waterfront, it does so without losing space and exhibition coefficient (respectively at +3 , 7% of square meters and + 5.2% compared to last year, recalls Alessandro Campagna, who is the commercial director of I Saloni Nautici), with a new face much more projected on water, and with a vision of the future that already in 2023 and then in 2024 will have the blue of the navigable canals conceived by the architect Renzo Piano – confirmed the mayor Marco Bucci.
But a review that is also transforming in the vision. Stella and Demaria said it, and then Campagna. The Salone is the first home of boating and is transformed to be more and more a showcase of excellence. The Salone is increasingly a brand too, so much so that it will have its own watch, its own perfume, an internal restaurant format (Blue Restaurant). And the Salone is becoming a platform for building the future. And in the wake of the future is precisely the claim of the 62nd edition.
Whether merely for the made in Italy of boating – we are first in the world in almost everything, from superyachts to components to engines – pushing towards internationalization, and it is no coincidence that there will be a conference entitled “Growing in Italy to conquer the world“, both on the front of more sustainable development. Demaria has revealed that she is working for 2023 on perhaps one more day dedicated to sustainability, a European yachting forum, and who knows that it will not soon become global. Because it is the market that wants it. And the society. “The irritation with private jets could shift to boats. We have to accelerate ”, says the CEO of I Saloni Nautici. But on this track, Made in Italy boating is already running and is at the forefront, so it won’t be a problem. And so is the Salone, the first exhibition that from this edition will measure its impact for C02 emissions.
There is still one aspect to be addressed, that of politics. Many ministers are expected at the Salone, also because the electoral campaign is underway. But Saverio Cecchi, on behalf of Confindustria nautica, was not tender today, during the press conference for the presentation of the Show, with politics. Not that of Bucci and the governor Giovanni Toti, who have long understood that boating is in the DNA of Liguria, and is one of its engines, but the central one. “We need to change pace to address the general needs of the industry and sectors. We go fast and we cannot wait for delays, stalls… And have you noticed the total absence of the sea economy in the political debate? ”. Cecchi’s promise is the commitment to bring it to us.