Shipbuilding in Italy at the End of the Crisis: Is There a Road to Recovery?

Until the year 2008, the segment of boating enjoyed an excellent state of health, although even then elements of possible weakness were beginning to emerge. Domestic production grew at high rates, port facilities were multiplying and new ports were designed because the offer of berths, at least in many areas of the country, was not able to meet the potential demand. Later the sector went through a period of uninterrupted crisis with heavy economic consequences in terms of loss of employment. Today we are still in the midst of a crisis—possibly at the dawn of a recovery—after a fall that has lasted for more than 7 years and that has affected all economies globally. In the nautical sector it caused a heavy decline, even greater in percentage than the average of other sectors of the economy, given its peculiar characteristics of elasticity. Indeed, the yachting sector has undergone a series of profound changes which have affected the main highways in the industry. However, at European level the Italian yachting industry ranks third in terms of number of boats produced, after France and Poland, and has ranked first worldwide for years in terms of value of production exported. The industry’s picture plays in a continuous alternation of light and shade and two aspects appear: on the one hand the importance of boating in terms of an articulate and complex supply chain and of economic loss caused by 7 years of free fall; on the other hand, the fact that the fundamental elements (boats, port facilities, boaters) are not lost and can be retrieved based on adequate policies.