WINE AND TOURISM: SUCCESS IS
WINE AND TOURISM: SUCCESS IS


WINE AND TOURISM: SUCCESS IS "LOCAL AND NATURAL"

MUNICIPALITY OF FLORENCE AND DONNE DEL VINO PREPARE THE G20 ON AGRICULTURE AT PALAZZO VECCHIO, TALKING ABOUT WINE AND WINE TOURISM WITH TUSCANY IN THE ROLE OF LEADER.

The leading experts in comparison on the future of wine tourism in the Region that boasts the birth of the Wine Tourism Movement and Open Cellars

In the summer of 2021, for the second consecutive year, the cities of art suffered from weak tourism and the cities of wine overflowing with visitors. An observation that becomes the leitmotif of a reasoning on the possible role of wine tourism for the economic and social restart of inland areas. The "Territories, culture and art of wine at Palazzo Vecchio" initiative organized by Le Donne del Vino in collaboration with the Municipality of Florence prepares the G20 - Agriculture, in fact from 3 to 14 September - developed in the Sala d'Arme, with a series of 8 meetings. The conference entitled " Wine tourism as a defender of diversity and biodiversity " conducted by the journalist Barbara Amoroso, at the end of the series of meetings, took stock with the leading experts in the sector on the importance of wine tourism. All framed by the works of the painter Elisabetta Rogai who uses wine instead of colors - "Enoarte" - creating a link between oenology and art of which Tuscany is very rich.

«A wine tourism capable of creating development and at the same time defending the local identity of the internal territories» said the Minister of Agriculture Stefano Patuanelli opening the meeting. «For thirty years, wine tourism has been the engine of development in rural areas. It is a slow tourism, of proximity that goes well with the cultural proposal, and makes a great contribution in terms of sustainability being linked to the agri-food chain and local products of each territory. It is estimated that it will take us two more years to return to the number of tourists before Covid: we will try to accelerate this process by favoring access to innovation even for small farmers ».

«The real revolution in post Covid wine tourism is the evolution of visitors to Italian wineries from tourists into explorers looking for diversity, nature, healthy excellences. We focus on experiential tourism that defends local landscape and specificities ”are the words of the mayor of Florence Dario Nardella . Also present at the meeting was the Councilor for the Environment, Tourism and Urban Agriculture Cecilia Del Re : "We are committed to combining the environmental issues of agriculture and sustainability with those of tourism: we are working to enhance the entire metropolitan area, including the tourist area of Chianti, with which we will work to create a synergy with the city of Florence. The first initiative is the Chianti Classico Card to give access to over 100 wineries, developing the experience of walking and cycling ». The Vice President of the Tuscany Region and Councilor for Agriculture Stefania Saccardi added: «The two words of the future in agriculture are" sustainability and quality "in the field, in agri-food production and in tourism. It is now necessary to work on training and hospitality ».

Massimo Manetti , president of PromoFirenze on internationalization, highlighted how “Tuscan wine production is increasingly oriented towards quality and biodiversity. Buy Wine 2021 has opened channels to the world to 150 companies with 886 Doc / Docg / Igt labels among them, organic certification is growing exponentially ».

WINE TOURISM IN ITALY. HISTORY, LEGISLATION AND GOOD PRACTICES

But in order to transform wine into the locomotive of the restart in the internal areas, it is necessary to train the employees and here the manual «Wine Tourism in Italy» comes into play. History, legislation and best practices ”, written jointly by Donatella Cinelli Colombini and Senator Dario Stefàno . The latter is the author of the first legislation on wine hospitality of Italian wineries. The regulatory problem is precisely the first emergency: "To date only 5 regions, and Tuscany was the first - said Stefàno - have implemented the ministerial decree of March 2019 and allow wine companies to welcome visitors in full compliance with the laws ".

"A delay that does not help at a time when, conversely, there are many opportunities to be seized", added Donatella Cinelli Colombini here as the creator of the Open Cellars day. «The novelties of this year are the boom in requests for experiences in the cellar and the spread of an" ultra premium wine hospitality "which in Italy is close to 100 euros per person and in the USA reaches 500 dollars. Added to this is a better use of the internet by Italian wineries who have learned to survey and profile their visitors and their followers, laying the foundations for corporate e-commerce. If we consider that the average price at which Napa producers sell via the Internet is 66.5 dollars per bottle for a total of 1.7 billion dollars in the entire region, it is clear that the expansion spaces for Italian wineries are immense " .

Giuseppe Festa of the University of Salerno, author of the XVII Report on Wine Tourism for the Wine Cities, also highlights the gap between the potential of wine tourism and its current reality: "To return to the 15 million visits to Italian wineries, registered in 2019, we will have to wait another two years. But to get there we need an extraordinary national promotion plan for wine tourism that takes digital channels into account ». A bet to be won therefore in which Tuscany must play the leading role: "The Italian region considered most attractive for the Italian wine tourist is by far Tuscany (52.69%), which is also the most attractive region for the 'foreign wine tourist, with even higher values (60.22%), above all because of the charm of that historical-artistic-cultural context ”.

The data coming from Mediobanca, Sace and Ipsos also show the attractiveness of wine companies. Italians visiting wineries went from 29 to 36% of the total in just one year. Their propensity to shop for bottles increased by 7 percentage points, reducing the drop in wineries' revenues linked to the lack of foreign tourists.

To confirm the desire to play this role as "first in the class" come three examples of best practices: Councilor Alberto Tirelli of the Municipality of Siena with the "Bike friendly cellars", Emanuela Tamburini president of the Tuscan Wine Tourism Movement with "Vigneti open "and Elena Roppa marketing manager and Donna del Vino with the" Camper friendly "project.

Many projects and great expectations and only one "dark evil" for the Italian tourist wineries that offer more or less the same thing: visits with explanations on the production process and a small tasting. A serious problem that risks driving true wine lovers away. A high-spending segment attracted "more by where than by how" wine is born and which will increasingly love producers capable of making a contribution to local communities and interpreting traditions and nature with respect and distinctive creativity.

© RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA




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