The certification company RINA Services has launched a new certification scheme aimed at yacht marinas that will focus on the quality of the marina, sustainability and risk prevention.
As a yacht marina is the place that welcomes the yachtsman and the contact point with the surrounding territory, particular care and attention are required to succeed in making it functional. At the same time it must be respectful of the environment and tourist resources so as to preserve its particular attraction.
The MaRINA Excellence certificate will be issued after an audit by specialised auditors who will score the marina on a scale from 1 to 5. The results will be subject to validation by a committee, appropriately established and dedicated to the issuing of the certificate.
The overall judgement for the assigning certification is based on the average of the evaluation of three macro-areas:
Port services: evaluation of the quality level and diversification of the relative services of a marina, such as berthing facilities, fuel supply, availability of accommodation for permanent yachtsmen and those in transit, provisioning, boat storage and repair yards.
Tourist services: evaluation of the tourism-related opportunities that the marina and the immediately surrounding area can offer. In this context, the marina is not considered as a stand-alone facility but as a port of access to the territory. RINA will verify the marina’s capacity to put its clients in contact with hotels and restaurants, sports and leisure facilities, archaeological sites and natural parks.
Sustainability: audit on the sustainable approach of the activities performed by the marina, and the commitment to environmental protection and safety.
The evaluation criteria are based on a points system assigned to various items on the checklist, which are weighted in terms of criticality. A set of regulations guarantees objectivity in judgement in order to make the assigning of the final score absolutely independent and transparent.
The marina gets to publicise the results of the audit so as to give visibility to the quality level of the marina, enabling service users to choose their port on the basis of objective data.