This morning we met with some international tour operators, from Great Britain, Bulgaria, China, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Armenia. All enchanted by our wonderful territory, all looking for unique and authentic experiences for their customers. We have deliberately selected companies that are dedicated to organizing wine tours and wine experiences for individuals, couples or small groups.
To be able to hear first-hand what their clients (wine & food lovers) are looking for from a food and wine experience or trip in the “Bel Paese”. We were pleased to find people enthusiastic about their work and what they are experiencing in Verona and the Province of Verona. Lessinia, Pianura dei Dogi, Lake Garda, Soave, Verona and Valpolicella are tourist destinations that, in different ways, have great wine tourism potential.
The Verona area offers interesting wines, with a variety that ranges from bubbles, to white wines up to red wines that are ready to drink and meditation wines. Probably a unique situation that fully justifies the election of Verona among the Wine Capitals at an international level.
What do tour operators and consequently wine tourists look for?
– Authentic, inimitable experiences in still little-known contexts
– Professionalism and attention to hospitality; making wine is an art, just like making your guests feel good.
– Diversified offers depending on the target. This means knowing how to create wine experiences profiled according to the level of preparation and expectations of wine tourists.
– Training. One of the constants, in our meetings, was the need to prepare wineries and wine operators for wine tourism. Wine tourists are evolving, millennials want to feel like “active consumers” and not passive customers. They want to be able to ask for information, receive answers, see live how an olive oil, a wine, a typical dish is produced. They want to combine the food and wine experience with active proposals, such as trekking, cycling, cooking schools, cultural moments.
For us, as a wine marketing agency, it was a very important moment, which makes us understand how our role as wine and food experience consultant can become fundamental for wineries and producers in the agri-food sector who want to focus on hospitality. An increasingly strategic marketing, communication and sales channel for small and medium-large businesses, even for little-known territories, given that Italy is, and from what we have been told, is destined to remain one of the most desired countries in the world, for its food and wine, artistic and cultural heritage, with unrepeatable situations because they are linked to a territory with the greatest biodiversity in the world.
