Sviluppumbria and Umbria Nautical Cluster at Amsterdam’s METS fair

298 employees and a total turnover that exceeds 43 million euros, with growth of 25% in 2018 over the previous year: these are the data provided in May 2019 by the President of Umbria Nautical Cluster Giampaolo Cicioni. Although landlocked, Umbria has a cluster considered a "unique experience in Italy" that comes mainly from the great tradition in mechanics and design.

The six companies that make up the cluster are Fratelli Canalicchio, Paolini, Divania, Rocco Marmi, Sifar Placcati di San Giustino and Officina Meccanica Cicioni, all of which have been operating for years in the pleasure boating sector and with specific reference to the maxi yacht segment.

The establishment of a group of companies in the current cluster has been a valuable tool to support entrepreneurship to address the global crisis that has also affected the nautical sector.

The combination of skills, technologies and know-how has allowed companies to present themselves together and with aggregating force on foreign luxury markets. The tangible result has been the acquisition of orders on important yachts in which the companies of the cluster have worked in synergy and continuity. The President of the Cluster observes, "Presenting ourselves as a group has given us greater control over costs and access to financial and credit instruments". The system of the entrepreneurial experience of each company represents a growth factor as well as a goal of the cluster.

Marco Giulietti, sole administrator of Sviluppumbria, stressed that the product and process innovation in which the companies have invested has been accompanied by a market innovation, and here the most immediate reference goes to the systemic participation of the cluster at major international fairs.

From 19 to 22 November the Umbria Nautical Cluster will take part in the most important boat show, held in Amsterdam every two years, in an aggregating space with an image that gives continuity to the regional presence with the other two other important trade fairs: Seatec in Carrara and MYS in Monaco. Technology, innovation, efficiency, quality, design, combined with Italian style are the distinctive features of the cluster and of the image it projects at the fair.

“From April 18, 2020, the Perugia - Rotterdam link with Transavia, which will directly connect Umbria and Holland, will operate twice a week from the San Francesco d'Assisi Airport”, added Sviluppumbria’s managing director Mauro Agostini. “In addition to facilitating tourist arrivals from the Benelux area, important for our region, the new flight is also of particular importance because it connects Umbria to the second most important city in the Netherlands and home to the main port of Europe. The flight may represent an additional tool to facilitate commerce of Umbrian companies. Entrepreneurs are invited to use it to intensify relations with Dutch business partners.”

More information about Sviluppumbria's activities with the Nautical cluster