Sardinia’s president Ugo Cappellacci spoke at UCINA’s Satec convention in Cagliari last week. Two measures were presented at the conference, which was entitled ‘Nautical Tourism Development – Tourism, the engine of the country’, in an attempt to foster and relaunch pleasure boat tourism in Sardinia.
One is a financial measure linked to the Italian national budget to reduce fuel taxes, and the other is a bill, due to be presented at a Regional Council meeting on June 5, to bring ‘marina resorts’ and ‘dry marinas’ in line with other hospitality businesses by reducing VAT to 11 per cent.
During his speech, President Cappellacci said: «We wish to work towards launching a sector that is important for the development of the tourist industry. The disposable income of leisure boat owners is very high and leisure boating makes it possible to extend the vacationing season.
«We must also take into account the satellite businesses, such as those related to boat maintenance. Unfortunately, over the past few years our government has been short-sighted and oppressive towards a sector that has enormous potential. Our commitment goes further than the financial aspects, as €200m will be invested in the completion and upgrading of our port infrastructures, which will attract visitors and new users.»
All participants at the convention, including UCINA president Anton Francesco Albertoni, agreed on the need to reduce bureaucracy and help Italy compete on a level that is equal to other Mediterranean players.
«We are confident that the new administration and Parliament will listen to us,» said Albertoni. «We have spoken with the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Maurizio Lupi, and with the presidents of the two committees in Parliament and the Senate, and the feedback has been encouraging. We are now waiting to see what happens.» (http://www.ibinews.com, 11 June 2013)
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