It could only be Made in Italy, or rather made in Romagna, the first beach digitisation app! From an idea of Niccolò Para and Andrea Menghi, two young men from Rimini born in ‘93, Yourbeach came to life in 2013, an online management system to make bookings at Bagno 27 in Rimini easier.
Soon, the project grew to become a complete and customised management system to meet the needs of beach establishment managers and simplify the holidays of millions of tourists, saving them precious time.
Success, however, came with the pandemic, when space management became crucial to ensure everyone’s safety. In 2021, Yourbeach was renamed ‘Spiagge.it’, and the booking platform naturally also gets an app – the logo is the image of a hermit crab – to enable real-time booking.
Figures highlighting growth
Today, more than two thousand beach establishments have joined Spiagge.it, almost a third of Italian lidos, and the trend to use digital services for the beach is growing. In 2022, total spending grew by 90% compared to the previous year, with bookings from the app and portal tripling compared to 2021.
In 2023, online bookings for ‘a place in the sun’ grew by 35%; the app recorded 230,000 downloads and over 500,000 bookings.
Sardinia, Emilia and Apulia the most digital regions
Spiagge.it is also a valuable tool for discovering, thanks to images and reviews, the beautiful beaches in our country organized by Region, Province, Type of services offered and Category. Related to each beach, the app and portal also suggest locations to visit and experiences you can enjoy. Today’s purchasing methods are increasingly digital, and beaches are no exception.
‘Italians and foreigners alike are increasingly demanding,’ says CEO Gabriele Greco in an interview with Repubblica, ’thanks to the platform, they compare prices, search for facilities pictures and available services, select from digital maps place they want for their beach umbrella, choose deckchairs or sunbeds, and immediately complete the online payment.’ Sardinia, Emilia-Romagna and Apulia are the regions with the most significant increase in online bookings in 2024.
Bad weather insurance and umbrella sharing
Spiagge.it offers two unique services: blockchain-based parametric insurance and umbrella sharing. The first, currently provided exclusively by Spiagge.it, offers an automatic refund in the event of bad weather if you take out the insurance. The second allows you to share and make your umbrella available when you are not using it and leave it empty on the beach.
The future? Not only Italy
Today, Spiagge.it, with Gabriele Greco as CEO, is a leading portal in Italy for booking beach umbrellas and beach services. It is headquartered in Rimini, employs 50 people and has a turnover of tens of millions of euros. Thanks to new partners, including CDP Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, it aims to expand further in Italy and France, where it has landed with Plages.fr, which has already attracted the support of more than 30 beach establishments of the French Riviera, including Saint Tropez.
Congratulations to those who invent and bring Italy to the most beautiful beaches in the world.
Discover more outstanding companies in Emilia-Romagna!