71,168 visitors and 824 brands on view, in an area of over 200,000 square meters on land and sea, of which 90% in the open air. These are the stats for the 60th edition of the Genoa Boat Show, an event admirably organized starting on 6 October with extraordinary safety measures, reflecting the determination of the entire nautical industry.
“This year is about courage, while the whole world is watching – said Saverio Cecchi, President of Confindustria Nautica, at the opening. – Genoa becomes the European and worldwide nautical capital. Italian know-how has been demonstrated with the construction of Ponte San Giorgio, and today with the first Salone Internazionale.”
Words that indicate a precise course taken by an event that reasserts its leading role, as confirmed by many representatives of the authorities, including the Minister of Infrastructures and Transport, Paola De Micheli, on behalf of the Italian government: “Covid has changed our priorities, and today we talk less about numbers, focusing instead on the effort and pride of overcoming fear. The organization of this event is a good example.” Similar concepts were emphasized by the President of Confindustria Carlo Bonomi, by Giovanni Toti, President of the Liguria Region, by the Mayor of Genoa Marco Bucci, and Mauro Alfonso (CEO of Simest), among many others.
It was essential for the show to offer “the necessary thrust to ensure loyalty on the part of sector professionals, and enthusiasm on the part of boat lovers,” according to the results of the conference Boating Economic Forecast / The resilience of the nautical sector. Scenarios for the era of the new normal, organized by the research division of Confindustria Nautica, with Fondazione Edison, Assilea and EBI-European Boating Industry, during the period of the show: “With respect to the estimates made during lockdown, which pointed to a drop in sales of at least -13%, this even demonstrates the differentiation of the impact of the health emergency on our companies. It is therefore still possible to complete the year 2020 with overall stability in the sector.” Furthermore: “The period between the Genoa Boat Show at that of Düsseldorf in January, with the reservation of stock for the coming season and new orders for the segment of large yachts, is therefore a strategic one to determine the final trend in 2020, as well as to lay the necessary groundwork for the next year. Our survey also indicates a situation of greater confidence for 2021: 8 companies out of 10 are forecasting stable or growing sales for 2021.”
Prior to Covid, the Italian nautical industry was reporting a positive trend, with growth over the last five years (+17%, +19%, +13%, +10%, +12%); 2019 also ended with double-digit growth, taking sales in the sector to 4.78 billion euros (+12% over 2018), almost double with respect to the minimums of 2013/2014, and higher than the estimates made in the month of February. Exports have also grown: the analysis conducted by Fondazione Edison on data from Istat and ITC-UN Comtrade, in the 2019 rankings of worldwide exporters in the nautical sector, list Italy in second place, with 2.6 billion dollars and a 15% share of world exports, up 19.6% over 2018. Where the main foreign markets are concerned, first place goes to the USA with 15.9% of exports of pleasure boats from Italy, for a value of 386 million dollars.
Now let’s take a look at the new offerings of the leading shipyards.
Here is the overview of the main new developments on display at the 60th Genoa Boat Show