The boom in food and wine tourism in Italy

Food and wine tourism in Italy is increasingly a protagonist, and according to data provided by the first 'Food and wine tourism report"One in three Italians, in the last three years, has indulged in a trip dedicated to discovering the flavours that characterise our territories.

Many Italian regions are already riding this trend and have embarked on ways to strengthen the food and wine segment.

In Trentino, Val di Non, where 90% of the territory is cultivated with apple orchards, is an example of good integration that revitalises agriculture and tourism. This has led to the strengthening of a new dialogue between the two sectors and today the territory is no longer so divided: farmers go to hospitality school and hoteliers bring guests to the orchard.

In Apulia, which is, together with Tuscany and Sicily, among the three Italian regions most chosen as wine and food destinations, the birth of the Masserie didattiche (educational farms) is very interesting. In a short time they have become a virtuous model: they contribute to improving the economic potential of the agricultural enterprise, they constitute a precious garrison for the protection of biodiversity, they contribute to deseasonalising the flow of tourists and create new visitor routes with the fruition of the rural hinterland, coastal resorts and historical centres.

Friuli Venezia Giulia, on the other hand, launched the Wine and Food Trail with a successful bottom-up participatory planning process that saw the organisation of 20 regional tables, 30 presentation meetings in the region and more than 1,000 stakeholders involved.

An interesting new trend is also beer tourism. The discovery of local beer production is increasingly a reason to travel, especially for Millennials. Craft breweries are on the rise and increasingly appreciated by the public. Assobirra, indicates that the number of these entrepreneurial realities, mostly young and employment-intensive, has morè than sixfold increased from 2008 to 2016, from 113 to 718.

This growth also has a strong impact on the world of work, with the emergence of new skills and professions, such as the hospitality manager for food & wine companies where transversal skills such as empathy, cultural mediation, knowledge of foreign languages, storytelling, are at the core and to which marketing and tourism skills, gastronomic sciences and agricultural principles are added.