UCINA Confindustria Nautica is launching a major international event for Expo 2015. A week devoted to the sea will be organized for the spring of next year to spotlight the synergies between the boating industry, design, art, sport, fashion, and lifestyle, as well as the quality of Italian-made products.
UCINA Confindustria Nautica wishes to turn over a new leaf and is planning a major and novel event connected with the sea and with leisure boating. The demands of the domestic and world markets have changed and are shaping a new exhibition format. For this reason the Advisory Committee yesterday approved the program designed by the President, Massimo Perotti, for the realization of an important week-long event devoted to the sea. This “sea week” will follow the International Boat Show, to be held in October, and will be organized according to a brand-new format, which will imply using the entire city of Genoa and its three ports.
Massimo Perotti: “We have been asked to accomplish a revolution and this is what we are doing. We wish to regain our role as world leaders, because Genoa is Europe and because it is on the sea and has a unique exhibition tradition. We cannot deny that we have lost this supremacy, but we cannot remain passive. Our objective is to create an event that will draw world-wide interest while enhancing and boosting the domestic market. We will also take advantage of this event to sell used boats; rent out large yachts; and offer new, ready-to-sail boats for the summer.”
While work continues for the renewed October edition of the International Boat Show, the organization of the event to be held next spring is under way. The latter will consist of diverse initiatives. There will be an international sport sail-boat show; a forum devoted to design and Italian-made products; a convention on the sea, ecology, environment, and food; an art exhibition dedicated to the sea; and a concert. These initiatives will also serve the purpose of creating a new awareness of the sea and of boats, these magnificent vacation instruments.
The development of the spring event will also take into account the arrival of the many people who will come to Italy for Expo 2015 and the events devoted to design, such as the Furniture Fair and the Fuori Salone of Milan. Massimo Perotti added: “The vice-Secretary of Economic Development, Carlo Calenda, has promised us concrete help, which means funds to be used to attract foreign professionals and companies.”
It must be said that leisure boating in Italy consists of diverse elements. There are the shipyards, which are undoubtedly world leaders for the design and construction of superbly-made luxury yachts. And, berthed in many of our ports, there are boats that simply wish to be an alternative to a vacation home for those who love the sea and know how to navigate. According to the Vice-President of Ucina, Pietro Vassena, “The yachtsmen category is often criminalized. We will therefore look for passions where we are likely to find them: in sports, in the desire to spend a vacation on a boat, and in fishing. We aim at rebuilding trust in the industry, hopefully with the help of our Government.”
Further details on the event will be communicated in October, during Genoa’s International Boat Show, which remains one of the most important in the world and which Ucina is preparing with the utmost care and with an innovative format.
