Yes to the sea without giving up visits to wineries or historic bars: the food experience triumphs

The new summer vacation trend? The food experience, which goes far beyond going to markets and farms or wineries. With the arrival of the warm season, food and wine tourists are preparing to organize their vacation to discover typical products in the “active” mode, that is, living firsthand an experience to discover flavors and traditions in wineries, dairies and historic restaurants but also in ad hoc festivals and crafts. With one goal: to quench the hunger for knowledge as well, pushing beyond the traditional ways of enjoying the experience to become part of the history and tradition of a place. A new trend emerges in the summer season forecasts of the Italian Food and Wine Tourism Report, edited by Roberta Garibaldi and produced under the auspices of the Italian Food and Wine Tourism Association with the support of Unicredit, Visit Emilia, Valdichiana Living and Smartbox.
45% of Italian food and wine tourists (and 36% of generalists) carry out food and wine experiences combined with beach vacations, whether inland, on the coast or at sea. Forecasts for upcoming summer travel show a strong propensity on the part of food and wine tourists to experience food and wine by getting in tune with the environment, local communities, and the very identity of the areas where they go on their vacation. On trips to a seaside resort, yes, they will want to taste typical products in a local restaurant, a choice that prevails in the general preferences, but they will really love the historic restaurant or bar, where they can breathe in the heritage of the location visited: 36% of respondents (+5% over the general tourist) state this. And the inclination toward the fine dining experience, desired by 22% (+6%), is also on the rise. The taste tourist’s travel program includes visits to several farms in the area chosen for their vacation. Dairies and wineries equal each other, with 18% of the consensus, but come in the ranking after farms, which excel with 19% of the affirmative responses. And, also on the rise, among food and wine tourists, are visits to pasta factories and breweries (indicated by 15%), but in general all food and beverage-related businesses are the subject of interest for upcoming trips to the seaside.
Even more interesting appear to be active experiences, which are now listed as the real goal for 2023 by 61% of respondents. Which are the most “popular”? In the lead, tied, are three types of experiences: wine, beer and oil-themed wellness treatments; walking tours accompanied by gastronomy experts; and finally, participating in outdoor sports activities such as taste trekking, bicycle or mountain bike tours among food production sites. Also strong is the desire to experience taste trails independently, whether they are food-themed (20%) or wine-themed (14%). Alternative mobility is gaining momentum, and this does not only apply to biking or trekking: in fact, 7% of the sample evaluates the solution of traveling on board a historic train where available. Among other experiences at the seaside for the summer, the most indicated continues to be a visit to markets where local products can be purchased, but this solution mostly belongs to the generalist tourist, since the food-and-wine person is looking for something different and distinctive: this propensity for discovery will therefore push him toward small artisan stores (indicated by 35%) or, alternatively, toward the museum of typical products (17%).
Among the younger generation, not only the search for active, wellness-oriented experiences (yoga in vineyards and olive groves, sports activities) will prevail, but also unique culinary experiences in historic establishments, considered especially by female tourists under 25 as a must on their next beach vacation. Women also say they particularly enjoy street food: buying food from a food truck is indicated by 24% of the female sample versus 16% of the male sample. And it is now low, again among the under-45s and regardless of gender, the interest in visiting the “old” produce market, which instead will continue to be taken by storm by the older generations.
“Food and wine is now a must to be discovered and experienced in seaside resorts, which most tourists do not want to give up”, says Roberta Garibaldi. “It is not a purely Italian trend: food and wine proposals will be the most sought-after by Europeans in beach trips in the year 2023. For seaside destinations, it is a unique opportunity to enrich and expand their offer, incentivizing and giving visibility to culinary experiences, active proposals, visits to places of production, markets and artisan stores of taste present in their territories or inland, encouraging the creation of innovative experiences, in which co-marketing also finds space”.