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Press release
ITALIAN MARINE INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES THE DATES OF THE NEXT GENOA INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW, THE 61st EDITION WILL TAKE PLACE FROM 16th TO 21st SEPTEMBER 2021
INDUSTRY TRENDS: BOATING INDUSTRY RECOVERS AFTER LOCKDOWN WHILE CHARTERS, MARINAS, AGENCIES AND BROKERS STRUGGLE.
During the Italian Marine Industry Association’s latest General Assembly, which took place online yesterday, Wednesday 16th December, the dates of next year’s Genoa International Boat Show were officially announced: the event’s 61st edition will take place from 16th to 21st September 2021.
Genoa’s International Boat Show is the one and only industry event to have taken place during the Covid-19 pandemic this year, fully adapting to the crisis while guaranteeing the highest standards of health and safety for visitors and exhibitors, pioneering a new paradigm for future world-leading Shows. The global event acts as an essential tool for supporting businesses on an international scale and as a world-class showcase for the very best the Made in Italy brand has to offer. Every year, the Boat Show brings together yachting professionals and enthusiasts: this year the Show saw 71,168 visitors and 824 brands on display.
The Italian Marine Industry Association’s Market Intelligence Department has provided a framework analysis of current trends concerning the boating market, thanks to a survey carried out among the Association’s Members. Each Company was given a questionnaire to fill out relating to their revenue in 2020 and their sentiment with regards to the current nautical year (2020/2021).
With regards to the estimated closing trends for the year 2020, the results from the questionnaire given to Members confirm what was already apparent at the end of the boating season, namely a clear dichotomy splitting the industrial component and nautical tourism companies. An even distribution can be seen in terms of the boatbuilding segment, with 44% of the sample indicating an increase in revenue and 41% indicating a reduction. The marine equipment and engines segment, on the other hand, is showing more conservative figures: while the portion of companies reporting a contraction in revenue is similar to boatbuilding, those indicating revenue stability reach a significant 35%, taking up a large portion of those reporting positive trends. The yachting industry could therefore close in 2020 with a substantially stable outcome compared to the previous year. However, the truly critical issues deriving from the pandemic’s effect on international travel become evident when analysing the revenue reported with regards to nautical tourism, where there has been a visible lack in clientele throughout the Mediterranean from outside the EU. While approximately 57% of marinas and service providers have confirmed a negative trend, for charters that figure reaches a staggering 82%, with two in three companies seeing business contracting by more than 20%.
As for the overall sentiment with regards to the current nautical year (September 2020 – August 2021), companies operating across the yachting industry seem more optimistic: over 2 in 3 Member Companies working in boatbuilding are reporting higher figures than in the previous nautical year, with only 7% indicating a possible contraction in revenue. 41% of equipment/engine Companies, on the other hand, are expecting an increase while 49% of them predict stability. The nautical tourism segment shows a more positive distribution compared to the final balances for 2020: 44% of marinas and service providers expect an increase and 50% expect stability, while 50% of charters are expecting growth and 26% are expecting figures to stabilise. However, it is important to underline that this data, especially that referring to the charter segment, relate to a comparison made with the worst season of the past 20 years and that predicted growth will in no way mean a return to pre-Covid figures.
Genoa, 17th December 2020
