An analysis of the potential and critical conditions of pleasure boating, from the view of services offered to boaters and sailors in particular. This is what emerges from the study conducted by NAUTICZONE, a development group incubator of AREA Science Park, Innovation Factory, which has aggregated and cross-referenced data from different official sources, drawing a useful backdrop for the promotion and development of the sector.

According to a survey of the National Confederation for the Craft sector and Small and Medium Enterprises (CNA), conducted on a sample of over 200 companies in the nautical sector, only 8, 5% anticipate returning to profitability levels of the pre -crisis period (prior to 2008) over the next 3-5 years. 73%, is however pessimistic about quickly returning to the brilliant results obtained before 2008. It is however note worthy that 43% of the sample affirms that no significant declines in sales were recorded over the past 4 years, thanks to the quality of the products Made in Italy and  ability of companies to adapt to changes.

Italy ranks fourth in Europe regarding the number of pleasure crafts, but the number of berths in our country is insufficient, particularly when compared to countries like France, Spain and Turkey, which have a berth every two units. The lack of infrastructure coupled with the high maritime domain fees granted in concession, inevitably increases the average annual cost of moorings, which are thus much more expensive than in countries such as Croatia and Turkey, where the fees are half compared to the Italian Central north regions.

"While Italy can boast well-equipped marinas and beautiful coastlines that can justify the higher prices - explains Marco Vascotto NAUTICZONE analyst  - such a great difference can however, negatively affect the choices of boaters including Italian and foreign tourists."

A number of interesting findings emerge from the boat charter industry, or from the rental and leasing of boats and yachts where there is still an illegal market at the expense of legal operators, already affected by a decline in revenue by 36%.

According to UCINA (Italian marine industry association), the number of companies specializing in charters, are officially 570, concentrated in Lazio (20%), Liguria, Tuscany and Sardinia, Puglia and Sicily, with lower numbers in the Adriatic, in part because of the strong competition with Croatia. The fragmented system, lack of a network among operators, poor infrastructures and red tape are the main problems. A survey conducted  by the National Boating Association among charter companies, shows that:  according to those interviewed, over half have a turnover below € 50,000; the number of employees is about 4.4 persons, including 1,4 "seasonal" employees and only 3 of 10 organizations claim to have an administrative clerk. Significantly, each company uses 3.2 boats for charter and 44% of these are under temporal management. This proves that each company owns less than two units, confirming the fragmented system of the industry which implies a real difficulty in performing surveys.

"Financing the charter industry could give an impulse to the entire economy that revolves around boating, as well as positive impacts on tourism, also considering that a boat used for charter is used a lot more on average during the Year compared to private boats; as a result, all services and businesses highly benefit from activities promoted in the marine industry.

From analysis performed,  positive aspects emerge on employment considering that three fourths of the boats chartered are propulsion boats, which imply the development of this market could represent a driving force for the economic recovery of the Italian market in the production of sailing boats, affected by the crisis in the last years.

"Navigation, often defined a luxury for a niche market - affirms NAUTICZONE - could be within reach of all sea lovers, especially thanks to chartering,  undoubtedly a very attractive solution for Italian tourists and foreigners who want a different holiday without having to worry about the costs of running a boat. It would be useful to provide packages that are integrated with hiring a boat, such as proposing a flight to the port of departure and other useful tourist services, which would facilitate booking and purchase and at the same time update regulations governing the industry."

----

NAUTICZONE is a start-up business whose mission is to provide useful services in the marine industry through advanced technologies and applications.  The backbone of the company  project is Research and analysis conceived by Marco Vascotto and Nicola Davanzo and developed with Innovation Factory srl under the Spin Area project.