“Wine? I believe that today it is the most effective marketing accelerator for tourism in Italy that brings more tourists than fashion, Ferrari and, without a doubt, more than any ‘Botticellian’ influencer-avatar or other ministerial advertising campaign,” said Davide Ciliberti, an expert from the Purple & Noise communication group, from Vinitaly underway in Verona.Because wine enters homes, on tables all over the world and is the protagonist of special occasions or happy moments. It is – continues the expert – unlike other iconic products of Made in Italy, in terms of price, accessible to all and easily stimulates curiosity about the place of origin.

“And, in terms of geomarketing, it is widely distributed, because if it is true that in every corner of the world there is an Italian restaurant, it is even more certain that on those tables and in those of the homes of those who frequent them there will be an Italian wine,” adds Vicky Gitto, an Italian advertiser well known worldwide.

In fact, the data of the recent Aite-Italian Association of Food and Wine Tourism Report (2025) confirm that 70% of respondents say they have taken at least one holiday in the last three years in search of food, wine, oil and all the other typical agri-food products of the Italian territory: with an average annual increase of about +13%

Globally, wine tourism alone is worth almost 40 billion euros a year. Of these, more than half end up in Europe, with France, Italy and Spain as preferred destinations and an average annual growth trend of about +13% even in periods like the current one in which the wine market is suffering due to the various Trumpian tariff wars.

FRESCOBALDI: WITH ART, A COMBINATION OF EXTRAORDINARY ATTRACTIVE POTENTIAL.

“Wine tourism is also growing strongly here in Tuscany - confirms Tiziana Frescobaldi, president of the Compagnia de’ Frescobaldi Holding and creator of the patronage project ‘Artists for Frescobaldi’ - and we see it in our estates: from Perano in Chianti Classico, to Nipozzano, to Pomino, to Montalcino. In Castel Giocondo, the place of production of the homonymous Castel Giocondo brunello di Montalcino where, moreover, and this helps to explain how the vineyard is evolving, we have a small structure, a hospitality, where you can stay and live a unique and immersive experience, between the rows and the cellar, where people come to taste the wines of the estate,  and also to savor a little of our history. And it is precisely in Castel Giocondo that since 2012 we have launched a project that combines wine and contemporary art: ‘Artists for Frescobaldi’, which boasts a collection of works by Italian and international artists inspired by the territory and the world of wine, open to the public”.

“We believe in the combination of wine and art: together with the cuisine and the beauty of our landscape they are a perfect alchemy, unique in the world“. In fact,”  continues Tiziana Frescobaldi, “I was recently in Korea, at the embassy, to talk about Made in Italy and the perception in the eyes of a country in great and strong growth and culture, also in terms of food taste, so different from ours, and art, wine and cuisine represent the aspects of greatest appeal and interest. A unicum in the world in which, however, in my opinion we must continue to invest and progress in terms of quality, value of ours and care of the landscape and such generous nature”.

ANTINORI: WINE TELLS THE STORY OF THE TERRITORY AND HISTORY, WHICH FASCINATES THE WORLD.

“Wine certainly represents an extraordinary vehicle for knowledge of the territories – comments Allegra Antinori, Vice President of Marchesi Antinori, who deals with activities related to hospitality in the company – but for us its added value lies above all in the ability to tell a tradition made up of deep roots and continuous evolution. Our wineries were born with this intent: to be places that express and enhance the territory, completely integrated into the landscape in which the wine takes shape. It is there that our history is preserved, but also the most contemporary and innovative part of our work. We see it every day; at the Antinori winery in Chianti Classico, where the long winemaking tradition is an integral part of the identity of a historic territory for the production of wine such as Chianti Classico, as well as at Le Mortelle, in Maremma, where a territory still partly to be discovered is told.

“Each of our realities – continues Allegra Antinori - has its own cellar and its own dimension of hospitality, designed to welcome our guests and accompany them in the knowledge of a place, its history and its identity. When this bond is created, the wine becomes memory: a story that continues over time and that, once found in the glass, naturally brings back to the territory from which it is born. And it is precisely in this deep relationship with the territory that, in our opinion, its strength also lies from a tourist point of view.”

CUSUMANO: ETNA TODAY A SUPER-DESTINATION THANKS TO WINE AND ITS PRODUCERS

Also in agreement with the marketing managers is the producer Diego Cusumano, of the Sicilian winery of the same name. “Our wine – says the Sicilian winemaker – is distributed in the five continents and by me personally or by exporters and presented daily, sublimated as a product of our land, Sicily. And our customer, in appreciating our wine, is also passionate about the place of its origin, that territory, which the vineyard itself makes beautiful, makes landscape. Think - exemplifies Cusumano - of Etna twenty years ago and Etna today: a super-tourist destination thanks to wine and its producers who, in promoting themselves, over the years, have first intrigued wine-lovers, then activated word of mouth, and then conquered wine tourists and finally made it rise today to a place to visit worldwide. With induced activities and related benefits.”

“And the same - continues the producer – applies to all places in Italy, from the famous Chiantishire to the small villages and territories, each of which gives us its product, its label, tells its history, its tradition, the ‘soul’ of that place”.

“Add it all up and in one fell swoop you have the most massive territorial marketing campaign in our country that brings many new arrivals and is the best antidote to overtourism” confirms Vicky Gitto.

CRISTINA MERCURI, MASTER OF WINE: WINE BUILDS QUALITY IMAGERY THAT STRENGTHENS THE ENTIRE COUNTRY-SYSTEM

“Wine can certainly be a marketing lever for Made in Italy and for tourism, but the definition is limiting: wine is above all a cultural and economic infrastructure capable of generating reputation and territorial desirability in the long term” – so Cristina Mercuri, the first Italian woman to achieve the prestigious title of Master of Wine (MW), the highest and most prestigious title in the world of wine (issued by the Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) of the same name in London certifies exceptional expertise, not only in tasting, but also in viticulture, oenology, wine trade and marketing – ed.) which continues – “The case of the wine-growing landscapes of Langhe-Roero-Monferrato, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, demonstrates how wine can activate a broader ecosystem that involves hospitality,  gastronomy and international investments. At the same time, it also highlights possible critical issues, such as the risk of tourist pressure and standardization of local identity. This confirms that wine is a very powerful lever, but it requires strategic vision to preserve authenticity and consistency.

“Wine does not just promote a product, but builds an imaginary of quality that strengthens the entire country system. For this potential to be fully realized,” concludes the expert,  ”it is necessary to invest in structured managerial skills and strategic coordination skills in the long term”

THE PROPOSAL: LESS PUBLIC MONEY FOR ‘VENUS-INFLUENCERS‘ BUT INVESTING IN ‘BACCHUS’

“And the great commitment of individual producers who, in promoting their product, tell the best of Italy around the world,”  relaunches Davide Ciliberti of Purple & Noise PR, “should be concretely supported by the government and local administrations which, instead of wasting so much public money in ineffective marketing and communication campaigns, moreover uncoordinated and without a medium-term plan,  destined to winemakers the many funds that from the State, to the Regions up to the pro loco are destined for tourism and spent without particular return (how much influx did the ‘famous’ influencer avatar of Botticelli’s Venus bring us?). And if it is not money, it should at least be tax discounts for those who communicate by contributing to a national communication plan”.

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