Italy has always been and firmly remains an inspirational destination that every year attracts millions of tourists from every corner of the world; that never fails to receive recognitions and awards from the Media (most recently, in the annual Conde’ Nast Traveller Readers’ Awards, Italy was voted Favourite Country); that appears in countless television programmes and films and is the most photographed country on Instagram (64million tags), thanks to its beauty, lifestyle and diversity.

For sure its tourist offer is extremely diversified thanks to its geographical situation and its past history: it spans the width of the Alps range in the North and the Apennine range runs down its length; it’s surrounded on three sides by the sea and dotted with beautiful lakes; its hills and countryside house hilltop towns, splendid Borghi and it has 53 Unesco sites, more than any other country.

Industry figures show that Italy is the first tourist destination in the Schengen area for long-haul (nights spent, Eurostat figures); it’s regarded as number one for Food&Wine Tourism (Food Travel Monitor) and for Tourism and Culture (Country Brand Index-FutureBrand); it’s the 5^th destination worldwide for international arrivals (UNWTO-World TourismBarometer) with 52.4million visitors in 2016 (+3.2 on previous year) generating 36billion euros in revenue.

If Germany remains the main market of origin for total spending for Italy, the U.K. is positioned at a very healthy 4^th place with 2,899million euros and 4,922,000 visitors.

2017 saw the promotion of the Borghi, the most beautiful historic villages in Italy; 2018 will see Food&Wine as the focal point for Italy with some very exciting and innovative developments. 2018 will also see Palermo (Sicily) as Italian City of Culture and in 2019 Matera (Basilicata) will be European City of Culture.

Italy has always been a synonym for “good food,” offering an unmistakable explosion of flavours, scents, and aromas. Aside from having one of the most famous cuisines in the world, it also offers an immense variety of different regional dishes and recipes.

World-renowned products such as Parma and San Daniele ham, Modena balsamic vinegar, Genoa’s o, buffalo mozzarella from Campania, Alba truffles, and cured meats are just some of the ambassadors of Italy as the land of good food.

It’s not by chance that Italy has invented the concept of Slow Food and the Slow Food Movement, now an international movement.

Visitors cannot miss the culinary and wine itineraries – journeys through Italy’s food and wine culture. We strongly recommend that you enjoy the unparalleled pleasure of tasting a product, recipe or fine wine in its native environment: a piece of Parmigiano Reggiano in the region of Emilia, a dish of hand-made orecchiette in Puglia or a glass of Chianti or Brunello di Montalcino in Tuscany, just to mention a few.

References:

• http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-instagrammed-countries-in-the-world-2016-11?IR=T/#2-japan-is-the-most-photographed-asian-country-in-the-world-but-didnt-quite-make-it-to-the-top-spot-overall-with-41522300-posts-kyotos-bamboo-forests-are-a-popular-choice-for-photo-subjects-while-the-city-itself-has-been-tagged-more-than-four-million-times-22
• UNWTO – World Tourism Barometer
• Banca d’Italia – Turismo internazionale dell’Italia

 

Guest Author

ENIT Italian National Tourist Board – www.italia.it

Find the Italian National Tourist Board – ENIT ITALY EU2000, EU2070 exhibiting at WTM London.