Assonautica launched this year Quality Marine, a project aimed at giving more visibility to the quality of Italian port services, as well as providing information on their sustainability, while constantly checking quality standards to prevent criticalities (especially in terms of sustainability).
The Italian recreational boating sector plays a very important role in the economic development and in the touristic promotion of our coasts: thanks to its world renowned coastline and more than 500.000 boats in Italy, the boating industry can enhance tourism and create an economical growth with extremely positive outcomes for a various range of activities in local communities.
To increase the quality levels in the recreational boating offer may be an incentive to the development of the whole territory involved, as well as a way to guarantee the sustainability of the maritime environments, taking more care of the environmental impact and of the marine ecosystems close to the touristic areas.
Main objectives of the project
– to build a qualification iter for the port facilities;
– to promote their development and valorisation;
– to ensure the quality of the service offered, thanks to a national Service Standard;
– to build a network of qualified and certified facilities, with the collaboration of the local Chambers of Commerce.
Service Standard
The Service Standard elaborated by Dintec and applicable to the whole national territory will define the requisites demanded to port facilities in order to obtain the recognition of quality. Such requisites involve:
– organisation system (management, staff, external collaborations, dealerships);
– typology of infrastructure (mooring places, equipment, workshops, radiotelegraphic services, refuelling facilities);
– quality and variety of client services (onland assistance, surveillance, first aid, commercial services, rental shops);
– waste management (both form moored boats and in common areas);
– warehouses
– charm of the territory in which the port is located (accessibility to territorial, cultural or historic heritage).
The project was launched four months ago and it involves the whole national territory. Quality Marine has certified several port facilities to date, including : Pontile Assonautica in Gallipoli, Approdo delle Indie in Brindisi, Pontile Assonautica in Otranto, Cantieri Navali Mirabelli in Taranto, Nautica Ranieri in Bari, Molo Sant’Eligio Marina in Taranto.
