Wine tourism drives winery sales, and Lugana Doc launches wine tourist guide

That wine tourism is something strong and of growing appeal, in Italy, is told by the numbers that speak, on average and according to estimates, of 14 million tourists for a turnover of 2.5 billion euros, with so much important adhesion among the various experiences proposed by the wineries. The wine-territory bond, declined in a touristic perspective, therefore moves important numbers, generates an induced activity that has repercussions on accommodation facilities and catering activities, but is also an added value for individual wineries through the direct sales channel. This is also the case for the territory of Lake Garda, where we speak of 27 million tourists a year, an area in which Lugana Doc, one of the white wine excellences of Italy, as well as one of the most vocated tourist destinations in Italy, insists. A terroir that in recent years has been at the center of investments by some of the most important wineries in the country (as we reported in a WineNews video), from historical realities of Amarone and Valpolicella such as Allegrini and Tommasi, to the Santa Margherita Group, among the most important groups in Italian wine, without forgetting those who, first, bet on Turbiana in unsuspected times, since the 1960s, such as Zenato.
The Lugana appellation, which spreads along the plain of morainic origin south of Lake Garda, enclosed by the Lombardy municipalities of Sirmione, Pozzolengo, Desenzano, Lonato and the Veneto municipality of Peschiera del Garda, was born in 1967, and is the first to be recognized in Lombardy and among the first in Italy: a territory and a history protected by the Lugana Consortium, which has decided to activate the “Wine Tourism Project”, from 2023, making the connection between wine growers and the territory a promoter. For this reason, the Consortium has developed a tool to be provided to visitors to guide them in valuable experiences in the lands of Lugana and Lake Garda through a map that collects points of interest such as wineries, events, parks, activities that can enrich the visitor’s journey with experiences that can tell the culture and charm of this area. In this way, all the realities of the DOC are represented in their wine tourism offerings in an easy-to-consult document with a collection of “experiential gems”, including wineries and activities, distributed in the main accommodations of the Garda area.
Besides, in recent years wine tourism has become a central asset of the economic system: the findings of the Consortium’s Economic Observatory see direct sales counting for 15% of wineries’ turnovers, with some peaks reaching 25%, where the national average is 8%. With this in mind, the “Manifesto on wine tourism” was created in Lugana, whose decalogue defined the guidelines for creating a valuable experience for the wine tourist, who “thus enters into the heart of our daily life, which is fundamental to talk about our history, our commitment and the passion that each of us puts into bringing Lugana to the whole world”, said Edoardo Peduto, director Consorzio Lugana Doc.
Lake Garda is an area to be savored: its shores are mirrored by vineyards, olive groves, mountains, forests and hills, and the hinterland encloses these treasures in oil mills, wineries and traditions that offer delicacies all to be discovered. Experiences that go beyond simple tasting, from wellness trails to sporting activities on horseback or by bicycle, to picnics in the vineyard and the wine tasting cruise, a small cruise on the shores of Lake Garda offered by the wineries to sip a good glass of Lugana.