WINE & FOOD TOURISM BEATS ART IN ITALY, CRITIC PHILIPPE DAVERIO TOLD WINENEWS AT “WORLD TOURISM DAY” IN MILAN. THE MINISTER OF TOURISM MICHELA BRAMBILLA: FOOD & WINE TOURISM IS THE MAIN TOURIST ATTRACTION IN ITALY”

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Minister of Tourism Michela Brambilla: wine tourism is one of the top Made in Italy tourist attractions, but what about improvements?

Wine & Food is the jewel in the crown of Italian tourism, on the same level as art and culture.
The famous art critic, Philippe Daverio tells Winenews about an Italy that today is more famous for its cuisine than for its art and culture, “because we are no longer the most beautiful country in the world, nor the most visited. Over the past 50 years, Italy has had to deal with bad management of its artistic and cultural heritage, but luckily it became a leader in wine & food”. And this is thanks to the ability to create a story about our products, since we are not lacking in creativity, which now needs to be put to good use for the next step, Daverio explains: “the creation of routes within the city, where the concept of a continuing museum, that goes from one building to another (instead of spending hours and hours in a single museum), goes hand in hand with food and wine culture, bars and restaurants: no coffee shop in any American museum will ever be comparable to an Italian bar, because that is our specialty,” Daverio concludes, “and as such must be protected”.
The Minister of Tourism, Michela Brambilla at “The Art of catering as protagonist of Italian tourism”, at “World Tourism Day” in Milan also confirmed, “food & wine is one of the main tourist attractions in Italy, often overlooked, but for many foreigners it is the main reason to visit our country, and the first reason to come back”.
The Italian federation of bars and catering, Fipe, together with the general federation of enterprises, Confcommercio, is in total agreement and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Tourism at Palazzo Pirelli, to define the rules of behavior and highlight territorial specifics, the sense of hospitality and above all the professionalism with which they offer quality service in a transparent and fair manner. It is also true that the data about the growth of wine tourism is not as favorable as the Minister makes out (+6.6% in the first 6 months of 2011): on the one hand Coldiretti is confident because of the 5 billion euros the industry earned this year, and on the other hand Agriturist (Confagricoltura) feels the Minister is over confident, considering sojourns were down between 3% and 5% at the end of the summer and restaurant services saved the budget. But at least one point is shared by all: the importance of wine & food for Italian tourism… and that is no small thing.

Focus - The code of ethics for Italian catering services
“Food and wine is a universal language through which our country speaks to the whole world. It is the Ambassador of Made in Italy, reaches the most remote corners of the planet and is perhaps more subtle but no less effective than our Art”, said the Minister of Tourism Michela Brambilla, who today in Milan signed a MoU with Fipe - Confcommercio to give a “new code of ethics to Italian restaurant services. Italian cuisine is a gift we have received through history and we have a duty to protect and promote it in every way possible. This activity of protection and promotion involves many different skills, it requires a high level of awareness and requires a new grand alliance between the field, the kitchen and culture in the broadest sense”. In short, we need a new role for our food and wine and a new responsibility for our restaurateurs “Food is tourism”, said the Minister.
“Raising the quality of catering services, therefore, means raising the quality of our tourist offer. For this reason, today we have indicated rules of behavior for catering and tourist development, in keeping with our commitments to spread the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, and more generally for the promotion of responsible tourism.
They are simple rules that field operators can follow and show their membership by placing a logo in their shop windows: the enhancement of “the product Italy” in the eyes of foreign tourists, clear and objective information on prices, availability of bilingual menus at least Italian-English, information on ingredients, preparation, culinary traditions, and initiatives that allow customers to express their satisfaction or their criticisms. In addition, we will study ways to classify restaurants to point out collective marks for quality, acceptance, typicality and attention to health for the consumer / tourist”. The project will begin shortly after data is released on the first 6 months of 2011 and the summer period just ended.
v “Despite the international crisis, the tourist industry confirms our strategy, which continues to generate growth, development and employment. The numbers show an increase in net flows of foreign tourists from January to June, with arrivals at +6.6% and spending at 7.3%, while the latest data on the sale of accommodations in Italy from the National Tourism Observatory, show a growth of 2.9% in June, +3.7% in July and +5.4% in August. The amount Italians spend on summer holidays has also shown an increase (from 23.5 to 27.9 billion euros) and the new tourist products identified in our reform, in line with the market trend towards tourism motivation are confirmed”. In 2010, the National Tourism Observatory revealed that 5% of holidays in Italy is wine & food related. The tourist demand is mainly international, as Italians represent 35.7% of the total, directed largely toward three regions: Tuscany (15.9%), Emilia Romagna (10.6%) and Puglia (8%). More than half of the tourist flow, 52.5%, comes from Europe. The most important source markets are France, 10.5%, the United States (7.3%), the United Kingdom (7%) and the Netherlands (6.8%). As for the domestic market, there has been a boom: from January to August 2011, the number of food and wine holidays grew 66.2%.

Focus – The Minister Brambilla Special Awards for Italian Chefs
Minister Brambilla has assigned 10 special awards to the great protagonists of Italian restaurants: one to the “Master Chef”, Gualtiero Marchesi, and nine others to catering businesses that stood out for having promoted their activities in the image of our country:
Antica Osteria del Ponte Cassinetta Lugagnano (Milan),
Don Alfonso in Sant’Agata dai Due Golfi (Naples)
Dal Pescatore di Canneto sull’Oglio (Mantua)
Enoteca Pinchiorri, Florence
Le Calandre di Sarmeola di Rubano (Padua)
Cracco, Milan
La Francescana, Modena
Il Canto della Certosa, Maggiano (Siena)
Hotel del Sole Maleo (Lodi), in memory of Franco Colombani.