A show that no longer fits itself
The press conference that presented the 66th Salone Nautico Internazionale of Genoa on Monday in Milan left a clear message for anyone following the industry: the show is full. This year's exhibition space has been taken up entirely, and the figures released by Confindustria Nautica, the association that organises the event, show a fair running at the physical limit of the Waterfront di Levante from 1 to 6 October.
There are more than a thousand boats on display, 215 market novelties and 45 countries represented from five continents. The in-water layout grew 4% on 2025, and the Yacht & Superyacht basin increased its occupancy. The most telling figure, however, is size: the average length of the three largest units in each segment rose 14.1% in a year, and the number of multihulls on show is up 28%.
"The show is fully booked," Formenti summed up as he presented the edition, adding the figure that explains the queue of shipyards: of the 8.6 billion euros in turnover of the Italian boating industry, 4.4 billion came from exports, a new record. Genoa, in practice, is the sales counter of a sector that sells abroad more than half of what it builds.
Not by chance, the president of the Genoa Port Authority, Matteo Paroli, used the press conference to announce that the port's new master plan already provides for expanding the areas set aside for yachting, "to give more space and capacity to a sector that represents one of the nation's excellences". In other words, the show has grown faster than the quay.
The superyacht quay: Living Made in Italy
The big structural novelty of 2026 is called Living Made in Italy, a new area on quay H created with the support of ICE, the Italian trade agency. The space brings together lounges, set design and hospitality services dedicated to Italian yards building above 24 metres, and has succeeded in bringing superyachts in the 35 to 50 metre range to Genoa.
The weight of this segment explains the investment. According to Formenti, of the 1,093 superyachts under construction worldwide, 568 are in Italian yards, more than half of the global order book. "The aim is to present our industry as the most important and cohesive in the world," he said.
For the organisers, it is proof that moving the show to October, adopted last year, has worked: the new date favoured the return of the big shipyards and the presence of larger boats, precisely in the segment where Italian industry leads the world market.
"The numbers of this edition have a meaning that goes beyond the quantitative data, because the show is a direct expression of the market and the industry it represents. We are talking about an industry that has reached 8.6 billion euros in turnover, generates more than 13 billion in added value and almost 170,000 jobs, with around 90% of production destined for foreign markets," said the president of Confindustria Nautica, Piero Formenti. "This is the strength of a show organised by the sector's national association: listening to companies, interpreting their needs and translating them into a project that holds together representation and market, industrial vision and international projection."
Blue Arena: the front door, free of charge
If quay H is the show's upper floor, the Blue Arena is its street door. Set up inside the new Palasport, used in full for the first time, the arena is an absolute first in 66 editions: a free-access space, funded by Confindustria Nautica and ICE, designed to bring boating closer to people who have never stepped aboard.
The project is divided into five areas. Start Boating offers a first contact with navigation, with boats up to 25 hp and the promotion of the new D1 licence, which in Italy can be obtained from the age of 16. StartUp & Innovation, with ICE, and Maritime Training and Professions, with universities, the Milan Polytechnic and the Blue Skills Village, deal with ideas, skills and careers. Mondo Vela brings the Italian Sailing Federation, from dinghies to foiling. And the maritime military institutions, with the Navy, Coast Guard and Guardia di Finanza, will engage the public with simulators.
"Blue Arena represents an important investment of resources that we strongly wanted in order to bring new audiences to boating, starting with young people, and to show not only what this sector produces but also the opportunities it can offer," Formenti said. "It is an open, freely accessible space that creates a new embrace between the show, the city and the public." The arena will display affordable boats, in the range of up to 20,000 euros, because, in the words of the Confindustria Nautica president, "it is essential to involve young people to train the boaters of the future". The discounted ticket for under-25s has been kept.
Foreign buyers: from 70 to 180
For an industry that exports nine out of ten boats, the show is worth what it generates in international business. In 2026 ICE doubles its investment in the programme of foreign guests, both buyers and journalists, with attendees from 35 countries.
"This year we go from 70 to 180 foreign buyers: not only superyacht buyers, but importers, distributors and dealers, key contacts above all for small and medium-sized enterprises," explained ICE president Matteo Zoppas. Added to these are more than 80 international journalists contacted, a project dedicated to start-ups and a communication campaign to strengthen the positioning of the show and of Made in Italy abroad.
In the supply chain, the TechTrade Days return for a second year on 1 and 2 October, with more than 400 accessory and component brands in a business format that puts shipyards, designers, buyers and distributors face to face.
FORUM26, a postage stamp and design
The FORUM26 conference programme, under the patronage of the European Commission, begins before the show: on 30 September La Nautica in Cifre, the annual market study of the Italian sector, is presented. On 1 October the opening conference discusses the relationship between industry, innovation and public decision-makers, and ends with a symbolic gesture: in the presence of the Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, a postage stamp from the series "Excellences of the Italian production system" dedicated to the Salone Nautico will be unveiled.
In the following days, FORUM26 covers anti-money laundering, tax and customs, sustainability, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, nautical tourism and the ocean economy, including the 5th World Yachting Sustainability Forum and a session on the economic impact of yachting with Deloitte.
The Design Innovation Award reaches its seventh edition with architect Paolo Brescia, co-founder of the OBR studio, chairing the international jury. The winners will be announced on 2 October on the terrace of the Padiglione Blu, and a book will gather the projects awarded in the first six editions. "When we talk about nautical design we are not talking only about boats, but about their relationship with people, with the environment that hosts them and with the sea," Brescia said.
What changes for those watching from outside
The reading that remains from the Milan press conference is of a show that has stopped being merely a product showcase and is organising itself as the platform of an industrial system: a quay for the big players, an arena for beginners, a suppliers' fair for the chain, a buyers' programme for exports and a forum for public policy. Raffaello Napoleone, president of the Italian association of international exhibitions, summed it up: "Genoa for boating, Florence and Milan for fashion. It is through these platforms that an entire industrial system strengthens its positioning on international markets."
The city joins in too. Mayor Silvia Salis announced a Fuori Salone, with events beyond the show grounds, and the creation of the School of Maritime Professions and the Blue Economy. And the governor of Liguria, Marco Bucci, recalled that the Waterfront di Levante will soon gain a hotel and the Fabbrica delle Idee, dedicated to small businesses and start-ups of the ocean economy.
Partners of this edition include Alfa Romeo, Eberhard & Co., BPER Banca, Slam, Trussardi, which arrives with a capsule collection and dresses the VIP Lounge, and Leonardo, which will display an AW109 helicopter at the show.
Details
66th Salone Nautico Internazionale
1 to 6 October 2026
Waterfront di Levante, Genoa, Italy
Blue Arena at the Palasport, free entry; TechTrade Days on 1 and 2 October
Information and tickets: salonenautico.com
By: Redação Mundo Mar
Photo: Foto: Salone Nautico Internazionale / Confindustria Nautica
