The Ocean Race, the round-the-world crewed sailing race, will start on 15 January from Alicante and will arrive for the first time in history in the Mediterranean Sea, in Genoa, Italy. Thanks to ‘The Grand Finale’, Genoa will be the world’s sailing capital and the arrival of the most extraordinary round-the-world race will be a great opportunity for promotion, but also a moment of celebration with many events in the ‘Ocean Live Park’ village that will be set up in the new Levante Waterfront.
But before the world ‘arrives’ in Genoa, it will be the Ligurian capital that will tour the world. By the beginning of 2023 Genoa will be the protagonist in the stages of Alicante, Cape Town, Itajaí, Newport, Aarhus, and The Hague with a ‘Business Lounge’ in which to promote its excellence to an international audience that, in the last edition, exceeded 2.5 million visitors.
The ‘Business Lounge’ will feature an immersive room developed by ETT that will transport visitors directly into the iconic areas of Genoa and Liguria. At the entrance of the pavilion a screen with content on Genoa, Liguria and Italy, with a specific focus on the Liguria Region’s 77 blue flags. Then a first area dedicated to the beauties of the Cinque Terre with a photo-opportunity for visitors to sit on a bench and share their photo on social networks. Continuing along the route, visitors will arrive in Genoa, with a reproduction of the Lantern and information on port activity and the local economy. You will then reach the area of the Historical Shops, promoted in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce, where you will find typical objects such as the pesto mortar and ceramics from Alassio. Then a corridor will recall the typical carruggi and lead to the area dedicated to culture. Finally, the outdoor area will recall the typical Italian piazzas where samplings of typical Italian products such as coffee, ice cream and Genoese pesto will be organised.
In the last edition, The Ocean Race attracted 2.5 million visitors to the villages, involved 94,000 youngsters in the learning programme, 20,000 children in the sustainability workshops, and 28,071 youngsters and adults in the ‘Try Sailing’. There were 4,356 accredited media for 2.19 billion TV news audience, 2.62 billion print readers, 117,129 online articles, 1.889 billion social media post impressions, 200.7 million social media video views and 168 million social media interactions.
The 6-month time span and the worldwide distribution of The Ocean Race will allow a wide and persistent promotional activity, drawing attention to the area as a tourist destination, but also as an ideal destination to develop business thanks to the continuous growth of the city with public and private investments. The Ocean Race ‘Genova The Grand Finale’, sponsored by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, will be an extraordinary sports challenge, a great promotional opportunity for Genoa, Liguria, and Italy worldwide, and, last but not least, a strong sustainability project. The Genoa Process, a pathway that an intercontinental team of top experts and stakeholders of the sector has started from the Liguria capital and that through a series of meetings (Innovation workshops) will lead to the drafting of a Charter of Ocean Rights. The principles will be presented in Genoa during the ‘Grand Finale’ and then delivered to the UN Assembly in New York in November 2023.
