FORMENTI: “THIS IS AN EVENT THAT HAS EXPANDED TO REACH ITS POTENTIAL, NOW WHAT WE NEED IS THE COUNTRY’S SUPPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE”
The 65th edition of the Genoa International Boat Show, held from 18th to 23rd September, ends on a high, with a positive balance after six days that consolidated the global showcase’s central role on the world boating stage.
124,248 visitors were recorded in total (+2.8%), adding to a full house of successful figures that demonstrate the event’s all-round success:over 1,000 boats on display, 23 new yards and exhibitors from 45 countries transformed the Genoa Boat Show into a leading platform for international innovation and Made in Italy production.
One of the most appreciated aspects of the Show were the sea trials, with 4,050 outings this year, while 123 new products, including 96 premieres, marked a bustling rhythm of industry innovation throughout the six-day event. Completing the picture of an occasion organised by the industry for the industry, 132 conferences and events took place, the Forum25 programme sponsored by the European Commission, and a strong media appeal with 1,245 journalists from across the globe accredited, 4,795 articles published in print and on the web, and 2,508,458 views of the Facebook and Instagram pages.
Piero Formenti, President of the Italian Marine Industry Association: “The top five international Made in Italy manufacturing events are all organised by the General Confederation of Italian Industry trade associations representing their respective sectors. This has determined their success. The Italian Marine Industry Association has developed a ten-year programme that has brought it to realise its full potential. This is a product that the world has been able to admire, displayed in a showcase that must be more visible and more accessible, especially abroad. We work in a marvellous but fragile territory, and it is for this reason that we must be supported by infrastructures that are adequate to the strategic value this event offers the industry and Italy.”
Local institutions are working hard to make this goal a reality. Ours is a journey, and what is important is that everyone is fully aware of our direction and that it also involves national support worthy of leading international events that showcase the supply chains that drive the nation’s exports. We have already sent Minister Tajani the NauticaItalia plan, dedicated to 2026.
The Genoa International Boat Show is a magnificent showcase for the Made in Italy brand, a single location where our entire country is able to express its excellence: from design to furnishing, from furniture to clothing, up to the most cutting-edge technology. Giving strength to these events means giving strength back to the entire nation.
Feedback from exhibitors only confirms a substantial sense of satisfaction of the entire sector: from superyachts to medium-sized boats to equipment and components manufacturers, who particularly appreciated the TechTrade Days, which proved to be a new addition capable of generating important contacts. Even the small boat industry, which had come to the Boat Show with trepidation, found customers, closed deals, and registered a generally positive sentiment.
This year’s has been a particularly high-profile Genoa Boat Show, which has also doubled in media attention. We have established new contacts, strengthened collaborations, and defined important agreements with institutions at every level, both national and international, from governmental bodies to associations. Among these is the signing of an agreement of historic importance that has brought the America’s Cup to Genoa and to our companies: the Italian Marine Industry Association will in fact be a strategic partner of the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup, channelling companies towards the event to be held in Naples in 2027“.
Grant Dalton, CEO of America’s Cup Events, visiting the Genoa Boat Show had this to say: “This is the second Boat Show I have visited recently. It is an extraordinary Boat Show as are the boats and the culture it expresses. I hope to see all the people I have seen here in Naples!”.
Particular thanks were expressed to the Government for the strong institutional participation: from Minister Urso, representing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, to Ministers Garnero Santanché, Zangrillo, Deputy Minister Rixi, Undersecretary of State at the Prime Minister’s Office Barachini, Undersecretary at the Ministry for Business and Made in Italy Production Bergamotto, and the Heads of Cabinetof the Ministries for the Economy and Finance and that of Tourism, together with the Customs and Monopolies and Revenue Agencies. And, for the first time in the history of the event, a foreign minister with the Florida Secretary of Transport, Mr. Perdue. A significant presence, flanked by numerous national and European parliamentarians, confirming the Italian Marine Industry Association’s role as an exclusive point of reference and dialogue for the sector and the Genoa Boat Show as a strategic platform for institutional debate.
The 65th Genoa International Boat Show was able to count on the strengthened support of the Italian Trade Agency, which organised alongside the Italian Marine Industry Association the presence of a delegation of journalists and foreign buyers from over 35 countries and 5 continents with the international press and buyers tour project included in the Made in Italy Promotion Plan of the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Thanks to the support of the Genoa Chamber of Commerce, the welcoming project was also available once again this year, providing visitors and exhibitors with free shuttle services connecting the Show with strategic points in the city, boats for arriving by sea, and the promotion of local excellences.
Maurizio Caviglia, Genoa Chamber of Commerce Secretary General: “The first thing to highlight is a sincere compliment to the Italian Marine Industry Association and the entrepreneurs who are part of this event: the Genoa Boat Show is possible thanks to them. The system of institutions has to do its utmost to enhance this extraordinary strength. On the hospitality front, we have been strongly involved in the Welcoming Project, enhancing the Genova Gourmet circuit, historical workshops, and local excellence initiatives. The stand set up with the Liguria Regional Council and Genoa City Council was a great success: the operators found a positive, quality environment and we are convinced that we have offered an much-appreciated service. Now it is crucial to continue creating the conditions for operators to grow, to believe more and more in this event, and to recognise that investing in the Genoa International Boat Show means investing in their future as well“.
Silvia Salis, Mayor of Genoa: “We have come to the end of this exhibition, the first for me and one full of emotions. This is the great international brand of our city, an event that should be protected and constantly nurtured. What the City Council can do together with the Liguria Regional Council and the Italian Marine Industry Association is to create the conditions for this growth to continue. It is also important to invest in the ‘Fuori Salone’ (events outside the Genoa Boat Show), like in Milan, by creating a brimming events programme, like the Rolli days here, that will extend visitors’ stay. It is clear that there are a series of issues related to the development of the Boat Show that represent critical points and it is right to discuss them because this is how growth is made possible. We are waiting for a series of structural developments that will make access to our city even easier, and this will be a key node for the development of activities, including the Genoa Boat Show, of course. As far as hotel accommodation is concerned, a hotel will soon be built here in the new Waterfront di Levante. Clearly none of these issues can be resolved overnight: the municipal and regional administrations can only intervene in part, since many of these issues require choices and competences at a national level”.
Marco Bucci, President of the Liguria Regional Council: “Once again this year, the Genoa International Boat Show has demonstrated its role as the beating heart of the Italian boating industry, overflowing with visitors, exhibitors, events, and conferences. Now the goal is to do even better for the next edition: all of us, starting with the institutions and the companies that make up the sector, must commit to making this the most important Boat Show in the world. Genoa and Liguria deserve to achieve this and have the potential to do so, just as the whole Italian entrepreneurial world that is already a world leader in the boating sector deserves its position and has that very same potential. Thanks to the prestige of ‘Made in Italy’ boating, a brand synonymous with quality, innovation and design, and to the new Waterfront spaces that Genoa offers, we can and must achieve this ambitious goal. Our historical link with the sea is already a source of wealth, development and jobs, but we must do even more to improve, so as to make our area a fertile ground for growth and the future of new generations”.
