"Italy is now the world's biggest wine producer," announced Emma Marcegaglia, President of the Luiss University, during the recent Forum della Cultura del Vino (Forum of Wine Production), promoted by the Foundation of Italian Sommeliers. "Italy is also world leader in the variety of grapes. 70% of Italian wine comes from autochthonous vines rather than international vines"

The switch from the well-known and well-tried international vines to experimenting with the many types of local grape stocks has paid off. Consumers show more and more appreciation of the unique and exclusive qualities of Italian regional wines, the Foundation of Italian Sommeliers pointed out during the event, as proved by the growing demand for vineyard and cellar tours.

Wine and food tourism has become very big business in Italy. According to the latest figures presented by the National Institute of Tourism Research (ISNART), gastronomic tours and visits attracted 110 million visitors in 2017, a 50% increase compared with the previous year. 57% of these were foreign tourists, compared with 43% Italian participants. The advantages of this kind of tourism go beyond their purely commercial value as they encourage visitors to seek out lesser known towns, villages and agricultural areas where whole communities can reap the benefits.

Since 2018 has been launched as the "National Year of Italian Food", these results are "particularly satisfying", commented an ISNART spokesperson.

Info: www.isnart.it - www.bibenda.it