Luxury yachting and great opportunities for Italy

“Yacht, Italy’s treasure hunt, second convention on possible luxury”. This the title of the recent convention held in Porto Cervo with the aim to inspire a message to Italy: thanks to all the coastal areas along its territory, not to mention art and culture, the nautical industry may and should play a more important role. In Porto Cervo, Federagenti, the Federation of maritime companies, outlined that the super-rich people having holidays on their yacht spend about 15-20 thousand euro per day, which means that the related tourism may consistently increase the profits of several locations in Italy.
Federagenti suggested that the richest tourists should be made aware of the most important sites of the Italian artistic and cultural heritage, and be suggested to take part in overpaid guided tours in unconventional occasions. As a third step of the strategy suggested, the biggest names in the financial world, coming from Russia or rich Arabian countries, should be involved in the sponsoring of such touristic offer. During the convention, Federagenti’s president Michele Pappalardo, Giovanni Gasparini, president of the Yacht section, Nautica Italiana’s president Lamberto Tacoli, and Gaetano Bergami president of CNA produzione, took part in the conversation.
“Tourism, culture and art are our winning feature – said Gasparini-. We have a lot of treasures, much more than those which everybody know, and they are often hidden: we should take advantage of that”. Statistics are in favor of Italy : the number of superrich people – as underlined by Nautica Italiana’s president Tacoli – is growing, especially in Europe. Italy, a leader in building megayachts (42% of the global orders), can take advantage of the growth of this market (5.973 boats expected  in 2030, compared to the current 5.113); the 56% of large luxury vessels is willing to stay in the Mediterranean area during winter and the 70% travels around the Mediterranean Sea in summer as well. In 2015, 6600 were the stops in Italian touristic ports. The global yacht industry contributes to the gross domestic product in the luxury sector for 24 billion euro, in Italy for 2,5 billions allowing for 13.000 direct employees. A 30-to-60 metre long mega yacht spends 2,3 million euro per year, while luxury vessels more than 80-metre long spend 6,7 million euro per year. According to maritime agents, it’s time to start taking advantage of that.