From the first day of the Genoa Boat Show operators and boating enthusiasts, emerge optimistic. There are many measures in favor of the sector announced by Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Danilo Toninelli and Deputy Minister Edoardo Rixi. We will be breathing down their necks to see if what has been declared will turn into concrete facts.
VESSELS UP TO 12 METERS
First, breaking news: under consideration, Toninelli said, is the hypothesis of extending from 10 to 12 meters watercraft, i.e., unregistered boats (and “no license,” with engines under 40 hp), to give oxygen to the sector and bring even more people closer to boating.
ELECTRONIC REGISTER BY OCTOBER
Then, Toninelli and Rixi announced as certain the arrival, by October, of the now famous telematics register of vessels (HERE we had urged the minister), which should result in all the data of registered vessels being contained in a single computerized file (just like cars) instead of the 104 paper registers of the various capitancies.
REVITALIZATION OF PORTS
The two then announced a program to revitalize the landings through a final resolution of the dispute over the retroactivity of the increase in state fees, facilitations for those who invest in green, and a willingness to establish a school for recreational skippers similar to the Anglo-Saxon ones.
BOATING ON THE RISE
In addition to promises, (good) numbers came in. The UCINA Confindustria Nautica study confirms the growth of the boating industry, which has a turnover of 3.9 billion euros, a 12.8 percent increase over last year. And the market, in Italy, saw an increase of 15.4 percent. Good news also came from the leasing world: banks “opened the taps” by reporting a 58 percent growth in concessions.
We listened to the ministers’ promises, the positive numbers, looked around the Genoa Boat Show, and were impressed by all the boats and innovations it is full of. We are confident, although there are some clouds on the horizon, such as the tariff war launched by Trump, which worries Italian operators who have significant export shares in the U.S. market.
