Shipping Cruise Industry in the Southern Lazio: the struggle between globalisation and local settlement

The work analyses the role of the Pleasure Craft Industry in supporting the Southern Lazio local development and the synergic effect for firms and local community. The main research question is about the struggle between settlement in local clusters of firms and globalisation centrifugal force. The importance of the selected them is underlined by many topics: 1) the constant and high economic growth of the Italian Cruise Shipping Industry; 2) the decline of big firms and the plenty of SMEs in Italy; 3) the local policy makers favour about the solicitation of local clusters of firms; 4) the relevant linkages to tourism and local cultural heritage about shipping; 5) the opportunity of synergies with other local industries, like the automotive Fiat hinterland near Cassino. The paper is based on a rich theorical framework. It is completed by a little empirical research about nautic firms perceptions referred to a local economic system based on the pleasure craft industry in Lazio.