Governments Pushing On

It would have been nice to start 2012 in a happy tone, but it seems to be the latest order in Europe.  Governments are going full on taxing one of the most employing industries today, that is the yachting sector.  The latest to attack its own home industry is the Italian government, who pulled into the Euro crisis, decided to introduce a boat stationing tax.  A return to the past of the old stationing tax the country had in the nineties but was only for Italian residents.  That means this one is worst because it also taxes the tourist, and the Italian.  Telling to the tourist yachtsman to avoid its coast.

Italy has the second boating industry World wide following the US, and first in the super yacht sector over 24 meters.  The Italian yachting industry gave much to the Italian government and in the period 2007 it gave over six billion Euros. In 2011 in full recession mode it will still give over three billion Euros to the Italian cash.  That is excluding the indirect income from tourism which boating and yachting bring in the harbours. The Italian boating companies of builders and suppliers employ today over 150,000 direct persons.

In Italy the yachtsman has already some other not ordinary bills; the country has in fact the most expensive marinas in the World, and keeping a medium size yacht about twelve meters is usually a double to most other neighbouring countries.  Fuel cost in Italy is also among the most expensive in the globe, where a surcharge of ten to twenty per cent is usual found in most marinas to the standard road fee.  It's a pity considering that the peninsula country is eighty per cent surrounded by a coast line some of which being very admired in the World. Think of; Capri, Portofino, and the Aeolian Islands to name just a few places.     

Some glimmer of light for the Italians and those like me who visit the coast is still left, with some Council Regions; Sardinia, Liguria, and Tuscany talking to the government and the negative affects the tax will bring to there coast line.  From here we hope for the better about this!  Boats in general bring growth in all the coast lines, and where a yacht marina is present the only incentive actually wanted is that to be left in its business to work. 

The last few years have been among the most difficult ever seen for the boating industry, and while the crisis in the early nineties was bad this is much worse.  The World has become a smaller place and with Europe today being mostly a single zone, things are much complicated today then they where before.  Surely the effects of globalization, and the only markets having growth at the moment are some places in the South America's, and Asia, with down under Australia being somewhat stable.  The North America's and Europe are more or less down.  Although fair to say North America is fairing better then the old continent, especially to what regards smaller boats sizes.  A reason for this is the better culture US has for keeping a small boat under ten meters in size then Europe, which is considered something very common.  

The old Continent on the other hand is not only seeing the recession hitting the buyer, but also new taxes being implemented in some famous Mediterranean countries on the yachts and the owners.  See Italy at the start as explained above, but also Spain, and Greece have not been very friendly with the boaters in the last months.  These taxes give even more bad signals to the buyer then even the greatest recession.  Totally wrong considering what a single boat usually leaves to the economy not only to where it is built, but also where it is residing.