Marinedi, the integrated hospitality system

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Journal of Sailing, the great excellences of the sailing world tell their stories and reveal their projects. In this column, discover all the companies and people who have made important contributions to the multifaceted world of sailing, which enables us all to go to sea in all forms and contexts.

In this episode, we take you on a tour of the history and news of Marinedi, which, with 13 marinas between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas, has created the success of a unique model: a nautical network that not only offers moorings, but also proposes an integrated hospitality system.

Marinedi, the network of Italian marinas that changed boating

With 13 marinas between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas, Marinedi has created the success of a unique model: a nautical network that not only offers moorings, but also proposes an integrated hospitality system.

When Renato Marconi, founder of Marinedi, presented his idea of creating a network of interconnected marinas in 2013, many thought it was an ambitious dream for a private national operator. Today, twelve years later, that dream called Marinedi has become the largest network of marinas in Italy and one of the main realities in the Mediterranean. With 13 marinas distributed from the Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic, from the islands to the peninsula, Marinedi in fact represents a unique model: a network that does not just offer moorings, but proposes a true integrated system of nautical hospitality respecting and enriching, both economically and culturally, the territorial realities that welcome the Marinas. An idea that comes right from founder Renato Marconi, a marine engineer with a passion for the sea and sailing. On the strength of his studies completed at the University of Rome under the guidance of Alberto Noli, since 1983 he has been working with the Fiat Group to build the marinas of Nettuno and Cala de’ Medici after a training in Monte Carlo where he treasured the teaching of Gianfranco D. Gilardini and Raymond Orfali, European pioneers of tourist marinas. After following masters of absolute prominence in Europe and the world, Marconi founded an engineering company, Acquatecno, which he still leads, and which operates in Italy and the World in engineering services for the planning, design and management of maritime works, coastal protection, and their impact on the environment. Indeed, Acquatecno is a reliable technical reference for public and private clients, Port Authorities, Regions and Local Authorities. At the beginning of the 2000s, it added to its professional technical activity the management of marinas, first with a public initiative – Italia Navigando – in which it participated, together with the company Sviluppo Italia Spa (today Invitalia Spa), then, starting in 2013, with the entirely private initiative of Marinedi.

leggi anche

Michele Molino, nautical engineer with the sea in his vein

From vision to model

The basic idea was simple but revolutionary: to bring to the recreational boating sector what the big hotel chains have done since World War II in tourism. A single brand, standardized services and guaranteed quality, but declined in different territories. In fact, each Marina of the Marinedi Group preserves its own local identity, made of landscapes, traditions, gastronomic and cultural typicalities, but at the same time it is part of a Network that ensures homogeneous, well recognizable and appreciated services, safety and assistance. This approach has helped to spread a new culture of pleasure boating: no longer the single port as an isolated landing place, but a network of destinations linked by a single philosophy, certain and published rates, services offered 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and linked by common marketing policies c. The Network allows the exchange of berths between Marinas at no charge to customers in addition to unique common promotions.

The numbers of the network

So today Marinedi manages more than 4,500 berths, with strategic marinas ranging from northern to southern Italy: from Chiavari in Liguria, to Porto Ercole in Tuscany, to Vieste on the Gargano, to Balestrate in Sicily, passing through the islands most loved by boaters such as Procida, Ischia, and Salina, to touch the great hubs of nautical tourism in Southern Sardinia such as Villasimius and Teulada, not to mention airports such asBrindisi, Cagliari and Trapani and the marina village of Policoro. The strength of the Network lies not only in numbers, but also in the business opportunities offered to boaters. With the “8 months here and 4 months there” formula, shipowners can choose a master port for most of the year and enjoy free hospitality in other Marinedi marinas for four months-a solution that has revolutionized the concept of seasonality and made sailing more flexible.

Innovation and the environment

In recent years, Marinedi has complemented its expansion with a concrete commitment to sustainability. Energy efficiency programs , recharging stations, recycling collection systems and environmental education initiatives aimed at schools and young people have been introduced. A virtuous example is the project with the startup Sea the Change, which started at Marina di Vieste and Marina di Procida, raising awareness among students and local communities on the issue of plastic in the sea through creative and hands-on activities aimed at elementary and middle school classes in local schools. Next event at the Marina of Forio d’Ischia.

The culture of the sea

Culture as a “red thread” connecting each Marina in the Network to the territory behind it. Abandoning the established idea of the marina as a parking lot for boats or a mooring place isolated from the territory, with the founding in 2020 of theMarinedicultura Cultural Association, the Group has developed cultural events in each port with the deliberate intention of merging and uniting boaters, the UK and from Eastern European countries increasingly present in our seas. The strength of the brand lies in presenting itself as one large diffuse port, able to offer hospitality throughout the peninsula and in the hinterland residents and tourists in the enjoyment of theatrical performances, book presentations, talkshows with the intervention of journalists, directors, writers, actors, politicians, leading singers, as well as hosting sporting events and regattas of special national and international interest. These activities, accompanied by painting and sculpture exhibitions, photo contests and folklore events, bring the area closer to the Group’s port realities.

A story that looks ahead

Marinedi is not just Italy. The network of marinas participates in major international boat shows-from Cannes to Paris, from Düsseldorf to Genoa and Southampton-with the aim of promoting Italian pleasure boating and attracting more and more foreign boat owners, especially from France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, the UK and Eastern European countries increasingly present in our seas. The strength of the brand lies in presenting itself as one large diffuse port, capable of offering hospitality throughout the peninsula and islands. A choice that perfectly meets the needs of those who love to sail by discovering different destinations without sacrificing high standards of service. Marinedi today represents a successful Italian case history: a visionary idea that has found concreteness and continues to grow, aiming at new development and internationalization goals. The future? To continue to connect territories, people and passions for the sea, combining innovation, sustainability and the great tradition of Italian boating with the goal that its Marinas will always represent a gateway to the territory and a fascinating piazza on the sea for local boaters and tourists. Because, as those who are part of the Network like to repeat. “a marina is not just a berth, it is an experience of travel, community, culture and life.”

www.marinedi.com

leggi anche

1985. The sails of the future are being born. The GdV is in, with Lowell North

• At this link, all the mythical stories from the 50 years of the Sailing Newspaper

50 years of the GdV: an opportunity not to be missed. Also for your brand

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Il Giornale della Vela is organizing the largest communication campaign in its history, which will reach a total audience of 2,000,000 “sea lovers” interested in the world of sailing.

How? Deploying all its communication channels: magazine (paper+digital), websites, E-mail marketing, social (facebook/instagram). The certainty is that 2 million interested people will be reached to whom you can tell your company’s story.

• Request Info

Why you’d better embark with us
The Newspaper of Sailing proposes that all companies interested in the boating target audience tell their story, just as the GdV tells its own. Don’t worry, our journalists are on hand to help you produce attractive and effective text and images to reach two million “sea lovers.”

• Request Info