After the great success of the first edition, in January 2023 there will be the second edition of the Blue Marina Awards , the recognition brand attributed to nautical excellence aimed at all marina resorts, marinas and landing places that wish to distinguish themselves as centers of excellence in the market in line with the current European policies of sustainability, innovation, tourist reception, safety and security. All marina resorts, marinas and landing stages will be able to participate free of charge by 30 June 2023. The award ceremony will then be held in the autumn at an international boat show.

The Blue Marina Awards are promoted by Assonautica Italiana and Assonat - National Association of Landings and Tourist Ports is the institutional partner of the initiative. Rina, an international certification body, is the "super partes" technical body chosen for the development of the information questionnaire that each participant will have to fill in to verify their positioning in relation to the four themes being evaluated: sustainability, hospitality with a focus on accessibility, security (safety and security) and innovation. The initiative is sponsored, among others, by the European Commission and Enit.

" Italy has a basin of 285 tourist ports and 2,090 berths, for a total of over 162,000 berths - explains Giovanni Acampora, president of Assonautica Italiana - a treasure that makes the country the perfect destination for nautical tourism. The idea is to support and raise awareness of tourist ports and landing places to raise the bar in issues of fundamental importance today, such as innovation, sustainability, tourist hospitality and safety.It is a sector that has enormous potential in Italy like no other. We recall that an employee in the nautical industry creates 9.2 employees employed in related industries (direct and indirect). Furthermore, 1 euro invested generates 7.5 euros (direct and indirect related industries). Seasonally adjust the nautical industry, ensure that our marinas are perfectly integrated into the socio-economic fabric of our territories.In this way we can ensure that the nautical sector becomes a resource open to all. he and the ecosystem of a tourist port or landing place means speaking to the 306 million arrivals of tourists entering the Mediterranean area and no longer stopping only at the thousands of yachtsmen who love sailing. It is no coincidence that the Ministry of Tourism has included nautical tourism as a segment of experiential tourism".

"Thanks to the marinas, which constitute the natural interface between the water system and the land system, nautical tourism - comments Luciano Serra, president of Assonat - Confcommercio - allows you to get to know and tell the uniqueness of our territories and live an experiential adventure clonable. In this context, the Blue Marina Awards initiative helps to accompany the qualitative growth path undertaken by the structures dedicated to yachting. Innovative services, safety and sustainability are some of the answers that the Italian port system, with constant commitment, offers to national yachting and international market in full respect of the environment and with the belief that they are winning characteristics for enhancing and maintaining the Italian tourist port system at the top of Europe". According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the experiential tourism market will increase by 57% within 2030. Nautical tourism is experiential tourism and our ports Thanks to the Blue Marina Awards, tourist landing places will be able to improve, enhance themselves, be better integrated into the socio-economic fabric of a territory and become a gateway to experiential tourism.