Italy took the stage at the Dubai International Boat Show, and presented an industry of excellence and success, the pride and joy of our country. The 28th iteration of the boat show in the Arab Emirates ended with the satisfaction of all exhibitors, including the fleet of Italian businesses participating in the event which ended on 13 March.

At DIBS 2022 they spoke about the growth of the Italian boating industry, which is surpassing the highest expectations and in 2022 will reach +30%, thanks to Regione Liguria’s mission at the Dubai Expo, organising a “Regional Day” dedicated to Liguria at the same time as the boat show.

“It was a well visited event – the vice president of Confindustria Nautica, Andrea Razeto, who also participated with his company, F.lli Razeto e Casareto, shares with DN – in regards to the public. The show was well organised in the new marina, in a completely new area, which had a very good layout.”

“Maybe there weren’t as many boats – notes Razeto – but the accessory area was well organised. There were a good 45 Italian businesses, excellent participation for an event that was focused primarily on the local market. It was a chance for us to create new contacts and renew others. It was a very positive experience.”

Andrea Razeto also took part in Regione Liguria’s mission, “in order to properly showcase the industry – adds the vice president of Confindustria – which is still providing great results in spite of the pandemic. Together with the director, Alessandro Campagna, we presented the Genoa Boat Show, which will be even bigger, with new exhibition spaces on the water.”

“The boating statistics presented in Dubai were excellent – concludes Andrea Razeto – and confirm the trend that began with the Genoa Boat Show. In addition we also created a tourist focus on Liguria, a top region for number of registrations and boating licences, and in second place, preceded only by Sardinia, for number of mooring places. In addition the district of La Spezia has recently surpassed Viareggio. Regarding shipbuilding instead, Liguria for employment is in fourth place in Italy but in regional terms it is in top place for number of people employed, confirming the connection businesses have with the area.”

The programme also included the conference, “The Blue & Green Horizon for the superyacht ecosystem”, organised by the Boero Group in partnership with The Superyacht Group. A round table on the 2030 sustainability strategies for the superyacht supply chain with the participation, among others, of Razeto himself, and the councillor for Confindustria Nautica and CEO of Amer Yachts, Barbara Amerio, who spoke about innovation processes in boat building, highlighting environmental sustainability.

Among the Italian exhibitors were also present Roberto Spadavecchia from NavalTecnosud in Bari, and for him as well, the event was a success. “You could hear people speaking in all kinds of languages – says Roberto Spadavecchia – in particular from all of the Arab regions. But there was also a lot of Europe.  For example, I had a number of enquiries from Finland, Spain and also a number from Argentina. There was a lot of interest and, speaking with other colleagues, I felt that everyone was pleased.”

The Italian-made CE certified products made by NavalTecnosud caught the attention of builders from around the world, in particular from Iran, Oman, the Emirates and Kuwait, as well as Pakistan, Qatar, Yemen, Cyprus, Finland and Turkey.