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UCINA PRESIDENT, CARLA DEMARIA: “AS OF 11.00 THIS MORNING, 163,418 VISITORS, A +10.3% INCREASE. MOST IMPORTANTLY A HIGH LEVEL OF CLIENTS. BUSINESS BOOMED AND EXHIBITORS ARE READY TO INVEST EVEN MORE”
THE MAYOR OF GENOA, MARCO BUCCI: “THIS HAS BEEN A BOAT SHOW FOR THE MADE IN ITALY BRAND. A SHOWCASE FOR A GREAT BOATING SECTOR AND A GREAT CITY”
PRESIDENT OF LIGURIA, GIOVANNI TOTI: “THE INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW WAS JUST WHAT THIS CITY NEEDED. WE HAVE ALREADY STARTED WORKING ON THE NEXT EDITION, SET TO BE EVEN BETTER THAN THIS ONE”
This morning the press conference marking the final day of the 58th Genoa International Boat Show, hosting a staggering 951 exhibitors using over 200,000m2 on land and water, took place in the UCINA Council Hall. 62 new brands, 58% of which from abroad. 150 international operators and journalists were invited as guest visitors by the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) in partnership with UCINA, the Italian Marine Industry Association.
Taking part in the press conference were the Mayor of Genoa Marco Bucci, President of the Region of Liguria Giovanni Toti and the President of UCINA Carla Demaria.
Carla Demaria provided the long-awaited provisional figures for the event: “As of 11.00 this morning, 25th September, 163,418 visitors walked through the 12 entries into the International Boat Show, an important figure which marks a 10.3% increase compared to 2017. It is highly probable that by the end of the day we will come close to 175,000, meaning an increase of 16% to 17%. A lot of the visitors were from abroad adding a few percentage points to last year’s 30% international participation rate, some from as far as Israel, Australia and Hong Kong”.
“An even more interesting factor – continued the UCINA President – is that exhibitors are ready to invest even more since business boomed”.
Mayor Bucci, speaking about the 2018 edition, stated: “This has been an amazing Boat Show that has brought the world’s highest quality to Genoa. This has been a Boat Show for the Made in Italy brand. Genoa – he continued – proved it can work in perfect synergy with the Boat Show: a showcase for a great boating industry and a great city. I want to thank all exhibitors and visitors who came to Genoa’s International Boat Show because by doing so they confirmed that Genoa is more than capable of getting back on its feet”.
Liguria President Toti: “This International Boat Show has been a chance for many things: business, work, innovation, events and opportunities for meetings. It has been a confirmation of the fact that this city and this Country have the right numbers to recover and react, to be even better. By now we have fully honed our partnership with UCINA and Institutions, and we are already working on the next edition, set to be even better than this one”.
Giovanni Toti then concluded by saying, “The International Boat Show was just what this city needed and couldn’t have come at a better time. Everyone has realised that there is indeed a promising future”.
The President of the Chamber of Commerce, Paolo Odone, stated: “This edition of the Genoa International Boat Show was the first significant test of Genoa’s ability to host an event straight after the tragic events of 14th August. The footfall figures, exciting events and especially the overall atmosphere of faith in the city that people could breathe in throughout these past few days all make it clear that the test was indeed successful. None of this could have been possible without the strong commitments made by the Regional and Local Authorities and UCINA, the Italian Marine Industry Association, with whom we have worked splendidly, sharing our institutional presence between the International Boat Show and the ‘Genova in Blu’ events programme. We are currently working with Local Authorities and the University to put together a series of Blue Economy initiatives for next year, of which the Genoa International Boat Show is the crown jewel”.
The 58th Genoa International Boat Show will close its doors at 6.30pm this evening, marking the moment the figures will become final for an edition that, to use the words of UCINA President Carla Demaria, “we will never forget”.
