The ‘Smart Marinas Initiative’ was introduced in light of a pressing need for the marina industry to respond to the technological developments such as digital transformation processes that enhance efficiency, and seamless user experiences across the transportation and hospitality industries.
The ICOMIA Marinas Group (IMG) realised that there is clearly some considerable scope for ICOMIA to assume a global role in developing programs on crucial marina-related issues such as interconnection, data collection, and sustainability.
To kick off the process, two years ago IMG started by developing this first draft that builds the case for why marinas should work towards becoming smart, and outlines the definitions of the term ‘Smart Marina’. Following the publication and feedback to this document, further work will focus on the impacts of this concept on specific areas in the marina industry, and on guidelines for how marinas can harness it.
The technology around us is evolving fast, with phenomena such as interconnectivity, data sharing, artificial intelligence integration, and seamless customer experiences taking place in all industries. Marinas begin to face increasing expectations from customers to keep up with the global pace and have to advance towards providing optimal client experience while improving their sustainability, efficiency and social responsibility. In short, they would do well to join the global trend and become smart where applicable.
At the same time, marinas are complex centers of services, having to manage a significant number of procedures, and manoeuvre between multiple parties to answer their customers’ needs. All of these have to be addressed while keeping the marina profitable and sustaining the quality of service associated with it.
To address the need to become smart, it is important to understand what this means in practice. Smart marinas may be defined as interconnected boating facilities that can be easily accessible through digital platforms and physical data collection sources, while maintaining safety and data privacy, and can be enhanced by being linked to surrounding services and communities. This ultimate Smart Marina process can enable marinas to generate, analyse and utilise data to automate some of their operations, predicting future market behavior, and independently address boaters’ operational needs.
Download the guide: ICOMIA Smart Marinas Guide
