Genoa Yachting warns: economic impact increases, but superyacht traffic declines in 2025
The association chaired by Costaguta calls on local institutions to change direction, develop a shared vision, and make strategic investments to face growing international competition.
In 2025, the economic impact of large-scale recreational boating on Genoa will have risen to €663 million (a 5% increase over 2024), as will employment, reaching 3.240 workers. Traffic, or the number of days recreational vessels spend in the city, will have decreased by 8%. Its contribution to Liguria's GDP is €234 million (€222 million for 2024).
These are some of the figures collected and analyzed for the Genova for Yachting association by Teha (The European House – Ambrosetti) as part of the sixth edition of the study measuring the socioeconomic impact of professional yachting on the economy of the port and the city of Genoa. This snapshot of the sector was presented at the opening of an association meeting titled "Does Genoa Believe in Large-Scale Yachting?" to emphasize the fact that the market is evolving, competition is growing, and leadership is defended through investment and a shared vision.
The association has called on local institutions to change direction, develop a shared vision, and make strategic investments to address growing and increasingly fierce international competition (particularly from France and Spain, in addition to Italy).
Based on data collected by Ambrosetti regarding traffic and superyacht attendance, the total number of days spent by pleasure boats in the Ligurian capital dropped from 77 to 71, a decrease of approximately 8,5%. Specifically, the number of vessels between 50 and 75 meters fell for the first time. According to Teha, this decrease has not yet had an impact on the economic impact data, because the reduction in traffic has increased the economic value generated per day of stay, "confirming the growing quality and complexity of the services offered by the Genoa cluster," emphasizes Genova for Yachting.
"The data provided by the Teha study for 2025 confirms our sector's strategic importance for the port and the city, demonstrating a growing ability to generate qualitative value. The increase in the economic value per day of yacht stay highlights the increasingly high positioning of Genoa's offerings on the international scene, but it is not enough to counter increasingly fierce competition in the long term," emphasized Giovanni Costaguta, president of Genova for Yachting.
The association calls for involvement in the decision-making processes and development strategies of the port and the city of Genoa, while also drawing the attention of the institutions to traffic trends. Alarm bells have been sounded regarding the stagnation of the Genoa hub, which, according to a comparative analysis with the hubs of Barcelona and Southern France, shows a lower level of dynamism both in terms of traffic and in the policies and investments implemented in recent years.
"The superyacht refit and service market is growing globally and is attracting new capital, which translates into investments in infrastructure and services. International benchmark analyses show how clusters like Barcelona and the French Riviera have developed structured governance models that integrate businesses, institutions, and research centers, supported by targeted public investments and shared strategies for innovation, sustainability, and competitiveness. In these contexts, professional yachting is recognized as a key driver of economic and regional development: an approach that must also provide a concrete benchmark for Genoa, which has been stagnant for too long, if it is to avoid losing its position as a leading global hub," said Alberto Amico, spokesperson for the Genova for Yachting shipyards and spokesperson for the association during the assembly, along with Cinzia Farinetti (vice president) and Nicolò De Angelis (member of the Executive Committee). The latter's message was this: "Our wish is for the administrative machinery to move at the same speed as the international yachting industry."
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