THE “HONEY TRAVELLER”: HEALTH CONSCIOUS AND ENVIRONMENTALLY AWARE, CHOOSES LESS FREQUENTED DESTINATIONS, PREFERS ACQUISITIONS DIRECTLY FROM PRODUCER, AND HUNTS OUT UNIQUE AND ARTISANAL TYPES OF HONEY

The “honey traveller” is a niche tourist who is health conscious, aware of the uniqueness of food products and how their identity is linked to their territorial origins, mindful of food choices that respect the environment, prefers less frequented and less commercial travel destinations, makes acquisitions directly from producers, and is willing to go out of his way in order to buy a specific mono-flower honey. These tourists are currently on the rise in Italy, choosing as their destination one of the many “Honey Cities” that belong to an association that includes locations in 42 different Italian municipalities from ranging from mountain regions in the north to parks in Sicily.

The honey traveler is particularly aware of the particularities that this food has and, while in Italy the average amount of honey consumed per person is only about 400 grams per year (35% less than the European average of 600 grams), is capable of eating up to 500 grams per week, or 6 kg per year. The honey traveler does not use honey just as an alternative for sweetening tea and coffee or spread on a piece of toast, but uses it as a vital element in cooking and as an almost indispensable companion to cheese.

Acquiring directly from producers and searching for specific particularities that different types of honey can offer pushes the honey traveller to, yes, travel to new and different destinations for rare and unique varieties. And, Italy, thanks to the notable variety of flowers throughout its territories and the climatic-environmental characteristics that differentiate one region from another, is the only country in the world that is capable of producing over 40 different types of honey, each containing its own properties and flavors, each with its own use. Varieties range from the yellow sunflower honey (produced in Tuscany, Piedmont, and Abruzzo) to the delicate and fruity rhododendron honey (found high in the Alps), to the sweet and clear honey from French honeysuckle (Tuscany and central regions), and from Arbutus in Sardinia to name just a few. And with 75,000 beekeepers in Italy and over one million beehives, the possibilities are vast for the honey traveller.