Business picks up at the Genoa 49th International Boat Show

Genoa 49th International Boat Show closed today after nine intense days of events devoted to the various worlds making up the boating sector. In spite of the current general economic situation, this year’s Show has confirmed its leadership and crucial role as the reference event for the whole boating sector at an international level.
 
Encouraging figures had already been recorded by the Boat Show organisers even on the eve of the exhibition: 2,400 boats on display and 1,450 participating companies – figures that confirmed the Show’s world-class level.
 
The participating boatyards and exhibitors have expressed renewed confidence and are very satisfied with the results achieved during the Show, which this year has been attended my more aware visitors, that came to the Show to buy or to collect information in view of a forthcoming decision.
 
The Show has recorded 280,500 attendances, with an approximate 11% drop compared to 2008, a result that fully satisfies the organisers.
 
“Fiera di Genova – declared Fiera di Genova SpA’s Chairman Paolo Lombardi – is extremely pleased with the overall organisation efficiency, the quality of the exhibition facilities, and the results achieved, in terms of business and attendances alike. Both in general and in relation to other boat shows and trade fairs held at a European level in 2009, Genoa Boat Show has performed very well and has confirmed its great commitment to the recovery of the boating sector. This is the result of a whole year of hard work and of the commitment shown by all those exhibitors that have once more chosen Genoa to display their products. The successful cooperation with the local institutions – which has been fine tuned over the last few years – has made it easier to access the city and visit the show. Preparation activities for Genoa 50th International Boat Show will start tomorrow – concluded Mr Lombardi. Next edition will be held from 2 to 10 October 2010”.
 
Fiera di Genova SpA’s Managing Director, Mr Roberto Urbani, stated: “Genoa Boat Show has reached its 49th edition, supported by the implementation of most of Fiera di Genova’s industrial plan. Even in the framework of a generally difficult economic situation, the Show has once more proved to be the reference event for the boating industry worldwide, its business community, and all sea enthusiasts. All companies trying to optimise their investments have decided to concentrate their efforts on Genoa Boat Show, to the detriment of other shows which they deemed less strategic. In spite of the current turbulent period, the unique features of Genoa Show – which, among other things, relies on various categories of visitors and participants – proved to be the most successful and most effective ones for the boatyards’ business”.
 
UCINA’s President, Mr Anton Francesco Albertoni’s comment was: “We are satisfied with this Show, which has rewarded those operators that believed and invested in Genoa, showing entrepreneurial boldness and long-sightedness. Today, based on the results of this Boat Show, we can at last state that boats are being sold again. Next season will be crucial to confirm the recovery of the boating sector, which will in any case have to reduce its production capacity, adapting it to a downsized (at least in the short term) market. Genoa 49th International Boat Show started off as a great challenge and has kept all its promises, which were summarised in the title of our national assembly (“The Boating Industry as a driving force for recovery”). In this way, it has confirmed it is the key-event in this sector and has tangibly shown that this industrial sector can indeed be a driving force of the Italian economy in its entirety”.
 
“During this last year of preparation for Genoa 49th Show – concluded UCINA’s General Manager, Ms Marina Stella – our professional association has worked extremely hard to create an excellent tool capable of sustaining entrepreneurs and the boating sector as a whole. The results we have achieved prove that we were right, and reiterate the added value that UCINA is able to grant in its capacity as the co-organiser of the Show and as the representative of sector interests. This was the spirit underlying our will to encourage a high-profile debate that has allowed Genoa International Boat Show to become an important meeting point for companies, institutions, associations, the financial sector, and professional operators, the final goal being “networking into a system””.
 
Genoa Boat Show has therefore further strengthened its international leadership – particularly in the light of the current unstable situation -, increasing its significance as a marketing tool for companies and as the ideal venue for the market to take stock of the current situation and lay the foundations for the commercial policies of the forthcoming months. The highly strategic role that the Show has played over the last few years was confirmed yesterday by the meeting held by the representatives of the most important banks and the leading groups in this sector, as well as by the attendance of major international groups operating in the boating and trade fair sectors. This year the Boat Show offered a special opportunity to discuss the future of the boating industry: during the General Assembly held on the opening day, UCINA presented the “Plan for the Boating Industry”, a three-year plan consisting of eight actions which are expected to attract investments amounting to three billion Euros, create 15 thousand new jobs, and contribute to the Italian Treasury by approximately 450 million Euros.
 
Seventy-six side events, including conferences, debates, workshops and presentations, were held at the Sea Theatre, the Press Centre, Fieracongressi (the congress centre), and in the Mezzanine Hall of the new Pavilion B.

UCINA organised six conferences devoted to the boating industry, training, customs, development policies for the Mediterranean Sea, and the environment; the conferences involved 50 speakers and recorded 550 participants overall.

The Water Stadium set up in Genoa Old Port met with great success. The swimming pool used for the Navigar m’è dolce initiative, located in the Piazza delle Feste, allowed more than 2,500 children to experience the emotion of sailing thanks to the cooperation with the Harbour Office, the Italian Sailing Federation, the Italian Naval League, Genoa Aquarium and the Galata Sea Museum, the Portofino Protected Marine Area, and Meteo Project.

Genoa 49th Boat Show could boast several outstanding visiting personalities: the Italian Minister of Transport and Infrastructures Altero Matteoli, the Minister for Economic Development Claudio Scajola, the Minister for Tourism Michela Brambilla, the President of Confindustria (the Confederation of Italian Industries) Emma Marcegaglia, the Deputy Minister for Economics and Finance Giuseppe Vergas, the Deputy Minister for Health Ferruccio Fazio, the Undersecretary for Economic Development Adolfo Urso, the Undersecretary for the Environment Raffaele Menia, the Undersecretary of Transport and Infrastructures Bartolomeo Giachino, the President of the Italian Senate’s Commission for Transport Luigi Grillo, the President of the Italian Senate’s Commission for Industry, Trade and Tourism Cesare Cursi, the President of the Italian Senate’s Commission for Territory and the Environment Antonio D’Alì, the former President of the Bank of Italy Antonio Fazio, the Deputy Speaker of the Italian Senate Rosi Mauro, the Ambassador of Azerbaijan in Italy Emil Z. Karimov, the Vice President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies’ Commission for Transport Luca Barbareschi, the Consul General of the United States of America Carol Z. Perez, Admiral Raimondo Pollastrini (the Commander in Chief of the Italian Harbour Offices), the vice presidents of Confindustria Aldo Bonomi and Paolo Zegna, the mayor of Trieste Roberto Di Piazza, and the deputy mayor of Rome Mauro Cutrufo.
 
As regards sports champions, the Show was visited by Sampdoria soccer team players Gianpaolo Pazzini, Luciano Zauri, Angelo Palombo, Claudio Bellucci, Stefano Lucchini, Franco Semioli and Nicola Pozzi, the coach of Genoa soccer team Gian Piero Gasperini, the captain of Juventus and of Italy’s national soccer team Fabio Cannavaro, and Pro Recco waterpolo team players. Sailing was obviously in the spotlight at the Boat Show. Besides Mauro Pelaschier, Andrea Mura, Matteo Miceli, Matteo Auguadro, the Italian Sailing Federation was represented in Genoa by its leading champions, including Alessandra Sensini, who declared she intends to take part in the 2012 Olympic Games, and several other Olympic champions. As for the Volvo Ocean Race – the round-the-world crewed regatta -, Yacht Club Italian and Yacht Club Costa Smeralda announced their plans for the participation in this extraordinary race and organised a really unique event with the gurus of world sailing, Torben Grael and Grant Dalton, and with the round-the-world race’s top management.
 
Many representatives of the Italian and international Press covered this year’s edition of the Show: over 1,600 journalists from 27 countries were indeed accredited by the Press Office.
 
The Show’s official website www.genoaboatshow.com was visited by almost half a million viewers; three and a half million pages were accessed, mainly – as regards foreigners – by French, English, Swiss, and US users.
 
As far as services and initiatives related to the Boat Show are concerned, the by-now traditional Welcoming Project – implemented for the seventh consecutive year thanks to the cooperation with the City Promotion Board and the Liguria Regional Council and the coordination of Genoa Chamber of Commerce – allowed to offer Show guests and visitors a very wide range of services.

The shuttle buses operating between the fairground and the main three-, four-, and five-star city hotels, the Eastern Riviera up to Sestri Levante, and the Western Riviera up to Pegli and Arenzano, the blue parking areas, the airport, the railway stations and the ferry boat terminal, carried 60 thousand people over nine days, with a daily average of approximately 6,600 passengers. 600 people took advantage of Audi’s courtesy car services.

Now that the 2009 edition is over, Fiera di Genova and UCINA are thinking ahead in order to organise Genoa 50th Boat Show, which will open on Saturday, 2 October 2010. Next year’s will be a very special edition, celebrating the anniversary of the number-one Boat Show in the world.