the boat rental market | Italy

1.1 Definition and scope of study

The boat rental market, whether recreational or sports, is based on three different economic models:

• Rental between professionals and from professionals to private individuals;
• Rental through specialised agencies;
• Rental between private individuals through online platforms.

The market is relatively concentrated around the large European operators; likewise, nautical activities are concentrated in some specific geographical areas. The sector is a sub-segment of the Italian nautical market as a whole which in 2019 recorded exponential growth - +12%. The rental market has recently shown signs of recovery after a five-year period of weak growth, dictated by a double push both on the demand and supply side with the progressive democratisation of the nautical sector. However, trends and demand affecting the market are different, depending on its identified sub-segment with respect to the size of boats: small, medium and large.

Consumers become aware of the accessibility of chartering, especially in the first segment - with almost 1 traveller out of 2 inclined to rent; and the supply side follows proactively by offering a wide choice of boats in many Italian locations, also taking advantage of the increasing tourist flows. Operators in the sector try to encourage interest also in the second and third segment, through marketing campaigns to communicate the affordability of this recreational activity or by offering new services such as the organisation of seminars or team building activities at sea; but they are threatened by an increasingly competitive context with the take-up of online sharing platforms.