First the table, then art and monuments. That it is the cultural and gastronomic heritage that attracts foreign tourists to Italy there was no doubt, but it may be surprising what the priorities are. At least according to what has been revealed by the new edition of the Report on Italian Food and Wine Tourism edited by Roberta Garibaldi, according to which Italy is mainly associated with taste and food and wine: by 55% of Germans, Swiss and Austrians and 54% of Americans, while only among the French do historical monuments prevail (50%).
The report, presented at the Bto – Be Travel Onlife in Florence, with the support of Visit Emilia and Valdichina Living, analyses the six most important foreign markets for Italy in this sector – Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Austria, Switzerland and France – and allows us to understand not only the interest in wine and food tourism, but also the expectations and experiences of foreign tourists in Italy.
“Understanding how they see us and how they experience us is the first step to governing change,” comments editor Garibaldi, president of the Italian Wine and Food Tourism Association (Aite) and lecturer at the University of Bergamo, “in a sector that continues to grow at a sustained pace, establishing itself as one of the most dynamic segments of the global tourism economy.
In the last three years, between domestic and international travel, the share of tourists who have travelled for food and wine varies from 60% in the UK to 74% in France, an increase from 15 to 28 percentage points since 2016. And Italy is mainly associated, as a travel destination, with ‘food and wine’.
In their choice of destination, the beauty of the countryside (over 80% in all markets, with a high of 88% in France) and the presence of local restaurants (81% in France, 79% in the USA) count above all. Americans in particular place more value on thematic experiences (69%) and gourmet restaurants (59%).
The main motivations for discovering food and wine are to try new experiences (52% in the UK and US) and to enrich one’s cultural background (34% in France). The French stand out for seeing food and wine as an opportunity to treat themselves to a luxury (36%), while Germans and Swiss/Austrians for immersing themselves in rural landscapes.
Dining and Cooking