The Venice Boat Show has successfully wrapped up after registering a total of 27,000 visitors over five days. The international fair event, whose motto was "The naval art comes home", proved to be a major attraction. And Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said his administration has already financed the show for another two years. "Venice is once again the 'queen of the seas' in the widest possible cultural sense", he said. "We have shown our ability in design and the architecture of construction, also recuperating traditional activities".
"The administration has already funded the Show for two more years - we don't want it to be an extemporaneous event", the mayor explained. Culture was an integral part of the show in the waters of the Arsenal, which was scheduled to coincide with the 2019 Venice Art Biennale, with shows and cultural events focusing on civilizations of the sea. Overall, 43 meetings on various aspects of navigation - from the environment to sustainability and yacht design - were held during the event, along with eight exhibits focusing on navigation, the sea and transportation. Brugnaro said the objective is to make the event a permanent one. "We have already started registrations for the next edition". "We want to host the whole sector, from small to big boats".
"The next editions will not only involve the Arsenal but the whole city will participate, as it has already started doing", explained Brugnaro. "The public awarded us, we exceeded 27,000 presences", said Fabrizio D'Oria, the director of marketing and events of Vela Spa. The large number of visitors is "an important starting point for the first edition of the expo", he added. "Venice has shown that is has a lot to offer", D'Oria also said. "Thanks to the collaboration of all civilian and military institutions, in particular the Military Navy for the special opening of the spaces of the Arsenal, and the support of the various directions of the City of Venice and its partner companies" the Arsenal has been prepared "with important maintenance work" ahead of "future editions" of the boat show. A key factor compared to previous editions, the management of Vela Spa explained, was to give the event an international dimension rather than a local one. The Ferretti Group, which manufactures and markets powerboats and luxury yachts, used the Arsenal for the inaugural party of the 50-meter boat Riva "Race" and for the international presentation to the public of the motoryacht Custom Line 107.
The Italian yachting sector is a top quality industry, an ambassador of Made in Italy with an added value of 11.8 billion euros, which has grown by 9.8% between 2015 and 2018. The Veneto region has expanded significantly in this sector: if Lombardy takes the top spot with 2.2 billion euros, Veneto is second with 1.57 billion.
In collaboration with:
Salone Nautico Venezia