Food and wine tourism has proved resilient to the pandemic test, despite persistent difficulties. The consistency does not seem to have been affected, showing slight increases in the number of companies in all sectors, with the exception of breweries, despite the decline in turnover. These are some of the trends that emerge from the new Report on Italian Food and Wine Tourism, edited by Roberta Garibaldi President of the Italian Food and Wine Tourism Association and presented on the occasion of the Food Journalism Festival in a panel dedicated to the theme of food and wine tourism.
"Strong signs of recovery are emerging after a difficult two-year period - said Roberta Garibaldi. The goal for the near future is to generate economic value and new opportunities for destinations, focusing on sustainability, innovation and experience".
Also for Michele Rumiz, Director of Slow Food Travel, experientiality is one of the factors on which to focus more in order to grow food and wine tourism in our country. Equally, it becomes important to network between the various realities of the individual territories to develop their potential together and become quality gastronomic destinations. "Gastronomy is an important asset for promoting tourism. The food of a specific territory is very useful for understanding the state of health of the community" Rumiz said.
Walter Massa, of the Italian Federation of Wine Roads in the Tortona hills, recounted the virtuous example of Terre Derthona, which made it possible to enhance food and wine products such as Montebore cheese and Salame Giarolo. "That of Tortona is a positive example of how food and wine products can be used for the revival of tourism. Italy is full of valleys, valleys and bricchi that have something to say and do. With projects such as the Wine Roads they can be enhanced " concluded Walter Massa.
