Region. “Sixteen million visitors last year, distributed throughout the territory with 330 thousand tourists who chose the hinterland for their holidays. In the last year, employed people in the Region grew by 2.7%, more than the Italian average (2.1%) and that of the North-West (1.6%), with a 23.3% drop in young people without work and not studying. Furthermore, Liguria confirms itself as the first region in maritime transport in terms of share of added value and employment, as well as active companies with values higher than those of other regions. In 2023, Ligurian ports handled 75.4 million tonnes of goods, over 15% of the total traffic of the Italian port system. To this it must be added that between 2013 and 2023, sparrow traffic in the region’s ports increased by more than 50%. In the Italian panorama, Liguria is characterized by the importance of the cruise sector which produces the greatest economic benefits on the territory thanks to the higher level of spending by travellers. We haven’t overlooked anything. And we’re not just an amusement park.” The interim president of the Liguria Region Alessandro Piana says this clearly, claiming the work done in recent years.
“Genoa in 2023 was the second Italian cruise port, before Naples and after Civitavecchia – says Piana – To this we must add the investments in the port sector thanks also to the PNRR through which it will be possible to improve our competitiveness, taking into account that the Liguria is the Italian region to which the largest share of resources has been assigned, equal to 2.7 billion euros, 30% of the total. Thanks to these data and the positive trend of the labor market in 2023 which shows, according to the Istat survey, that employed people increased by 2.7 percent, we can say that Liguria is on the move and the data, albeit with some contractions due to the international scenario, they also tell us about the growth in gross income of families which benefits from the good trend in employment. Today we must strengthen our presence in the maritime sector even more and proceed as soon as possible with the work on the Genoa dam and the completion of the third crossing to allow an increase in traffic volumes and the opening of new European corridors, because with the creation of infrastructure, we could overcome all the obstacles.”
“The realization of the infrastructural works that place us above the other Italian regions for PNRR investments will in fact allow us to overcome the structural limits of our territory with an immediate positive effect on GDP growth – concludes Piana – Taking into account that Liguria continues to be the protagonist of the Blue Economy with 10.5% of companies active in the maritime economy compared to the 3.8% of the Italian average. Numbers achieved thanks to the commitment of recent years in terms of investments and the relaunch of the territory on which we have worked and on which we will continue to work”.
