The 51^st edition of the annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show takes place from October 28 to November 1 at the Bahia Mar Yachting Center - International Yacht Builders Pavilion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

It is the world’s largest nautical show and is still growing: last year’s edition played host to around 1,200 exhibitors from the major yacht-building countries (United States, Britain, France, Germany, Netherlands and Taiwan) and some 110,000 visitors, while this year the organisers expect this to grow to 110,400 (15% more). This year again, there will be 1,200 yachts on show, both on water and on land.

For the third year in a row, the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE), in cooperation with Ucina (the Italian marine industry association), is giving logistical support to a collective of 13 Italian companies chosen from among the best in the maritime sector. Their aim is to establish new business relations with those operating in the sector in North America in particular, offering quality, expertise and increasingly innovative design with an eye to the smallest details, taste and, above all, respect for all safety regulations.

With a strong nautical tradition that has its roots in the Middle Ages and the maritime republics of Genoa, Amalfi, Pisa and Venice, Italy has decided to invest heavily in the internationalisation of the marine industry, with the government having recently earmarked funds, and is paying particular attention to events like the International Boat Show which allow it to make comparisons with operators from other countries.

The Italian pavilion will be showing the best in design and tradition – sinuous, elegant and super-equipped yachts, pleasure boats and marine equipment of the highest quality.

During the show, a number of side events are being organised to promote Italian manufacture: in particular, there will be Club Italia, an elegant floating business lounge of around 446 square metres, equipped to offer services to Italian operators and their overseas partners attending the event. The lounge will allow all the Italian companies present to demonstrate their business activities and sales plans according to a calendar drawn up on the basis of requests as they are made. In addition, an exhibition of models of the yachts produced by the most important Italian shipyards is expected to be organised in order to emphasize the image of Italy. Finally, the “Harper's Bazaar” trade magazine will be holding a fashion show.

The occasion is certainly important for putting the spotlight on Italian quality, elegance and attention to detail because the United States is the world’s major market in terms of number of boats produced