"A 'Sea Board' will be set up"
"No prejudices against pleasure boaters, we will extend and support protected marine areas"
Marcello Lippi, Carlo Ancelotti and Carlo Conti visit the Show
"Boating in figures", with all sector data, was officially presented today
European Commissioner Joe Borg for fishing and maritime affairs expected tomorrow
Today was a day full of institutional and economic events but also of VIPs at Genoa 46th International Boat Show, being held at Fiera di Genova until Sunday, 15 October.
VIPs have always been an important attraction for visitors. Several ones visited the Show today: late in the morning former Italian soccer team coach
Marcello Lippi reached the fairground. He is by now a regular, since he is a real boat lover himself.
"I love the sea and everything is related to it – he said -: sailing and motor boats, seafronts, fishing… And I always like visiting his Show, where the best production worldwide is on display". After answering a few questions on the Italian soccer team and about his future in soccer ("I willkeep working in this sector, but in five, six or seven months, not just now"), Mr Lippi joked on his fishing abilities: "I went fishing in September, but I wasn't very successful, I am not very good".
A few hours before him, another famous soccer coach,
Carlo Ancelotti, and TV presenter
Carlo Conti made a quick appearance at the Show too.
Assilea, the Italian Leasing Association, presented its data on leasing in the pleasure boating sector. In the first semester of 2006 the number of signed contracts was 3,480, amounting to 1,731,515 Euros. Following a trend which has been going on over the last two years, leasing has further increased in the boating sector.
UCINA officially presented "Boating in figures", its traditional economic report. This year the market analysis has been reviewed in terms of both contents and analysis methodology: indeed, the survey was carried out in cooperation with the Economics and Quantitative Methods Department of the University of Genoa.
The
Italian Minister of the Environment, Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, closed the proceedings of the conference devoted to good practices in the boating sector, organised by UCINA. Protected marine areas will be "extended and improved", the Minister said, while in relation to Deputy Prime Minister
D'Alema's statements on the "prejudices" of some political parties towards pleasure boaters, he said: "We do no haveany prejudices at all. We simply take a diferent approach: we want toseetrue passion for the sea. In this respect, of course, weprefer sailing boats to jet-skis". The Minister does not own any boat, but "a twoseater canoe, which helps me keep fi", he said.
The conference he attended focused on the technologies applied to ensure a sustainable use of protected marine areas, with the goal of making them exploitable for pleasure boating purposes too. The Minister announced the establishment of a technical board for the sea, something which is currently missing in Italy. The debate will aim at reviewing regulations in these areas, in order to improve their management and use. The boating industry will also be involved (an ad-hoc press release will be issued).
Tomorrow's events
The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs Joe Borg will be present at the Show in the morning. He will meet sector operators and will visit the Show, an example of excellence for the European boating industry as a whole.
Tuesday 10 October events will start at 11 a.m. at the Sea Theatre, with the presentation of the Tall Ships' Race 2007, organised by STA Italia, a fully voluntary, non-profit association established in July 1996 by the Italian Navy and Yacht Club Italiano to be the Italian body representing the international organisation promoting the activities of large vessels as a tool for training and international friendship among young people who love sailing and the sea.
In the afternoon, the project for the safeguard of cetaceans "
Delfini Metropolitani" (City Dolphins), organised by Acquario di Genova Foundation, will be presented. The inflatable boat used for the researches carried out by Genoa Aquarium will be on display at the Sea Stadium. At the same time, 3.00 p.m., in the Press Room, the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade will present the market analyses carried out in Canada and Poland. After this meeting, at 5.00 p.m., the parliamentary inter-party group "Friends of the Sea" will be officially presented. Italian MPs Franca Ciuffi (President of the inter-party group – Udeur), Doriana Bianchi (L'Ulivo), Maria Ida Germontani (Alleanza Nazionale), and Roberto Maroni (Lega Nord) will take the floor.
At the Sea Theatre the day will end at 4.00 p.m. with the presentation of the first Italian official state charts especially devoted to pleasure boating.
Moreover, the free trials for the public on sailing and motor boats at the Sea Stadium will continue thanks to the project Navigar m'è Dolce (literally ‘sweet navigation'), the easiest and most effective way of raising the public's awareness towards sea culture.
Last-minute news:
Tomorrow the
Italian Minister for Agricultural Policies and Forestry Paolo De Castro will visit Genoa 46th International Boat Show. He will follow the activities of the delegation of the European Commissioner for Fishing and Maritime Affairs. His visit at the Show will start at 10.15 a.m.
The General Secretary of trade union CGIL Gugliemo Epifani will reach the show at 1.00 p.m.
The
President of Confturismo and Federalberghi (the confederations of company and operators in the tourist sector and of hoteliers) Bernabò Bocca will arrive at the Show at 12.00 noon.
Information
Fiera di Genova tel. +39.010.53911, e-mail:
fierage@fiera.ge.it,
www.salonenautico-online.itUCINA: tel. +39.010.5769811, e-mail:
ucina@ucina.net ,
www.salonenauticogenova.itFiera di Genova Press Office
Tel +39 010 5391206-211-250-262
e-mail :
press@fiera.ge.it ufficiostampa@fiera.ge.itUfficio Stampa UCINA
Tel +39 335 8308666
E-mail:
promotion@ucina.net