Veneto, Tuscany and Emilia Romagna lead the ranking of Dop tourism

Veneto, Tuscany, Emilia Romagna and Lombardy lead the ranking of Dop tourism in Italy, that is, tourism linked to food and wine. The data comes from the first ad hoc report that the Qualivita Foundation, together with Origin Italia, presented on Wednesday 25 June in Rome.

Although it does not calculate the economic value generated by tourism that focuses on food and drink specialties with a protected designation of origin, the survey recalls that last year 361 national protection consortia promoted 585 activities including guided tastings in cellars, taste weeks or open dairies. This new tourism model, in addition to one-off events - there were 235 in 2024 - also includes 188 permanent infrastructures such as wine and flavour routes, food museums or educational spaces, demonstrating the historical and cultural link between the PGIs and their places of origin. The report on PDO Tourism identifies in particular the presence of 103 roads and itineraries, 17 UNESCO sites, 29 historic rural landscapes and 82 parks and protected areas.

The Grana Padano production area alone aims to attract 50 million visitors each year: "Thanks to its worldwide diffusion and the territory in which it is found - recalled the president of the consortium, Roberto Zaghini - Grana Padano aims to become a tourist icon with its future Experience center on Lake Garda, which will cater to the 27 million tourists from Garda and the 23 million other tourists from Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino".

The leadership of Veneto, Tuscany, Emilia Romagna and Lombardy, explain the analysts of the Qualivita report, depends on the fact that in the territories involved there are structured production chains, a consolidated tourist attraction and protection consortia capable of playing an active role in territorial governance. "Instead, a reflection on the regions of the South is necessary - said Mauro Rosati, director of the Qualivita Foundation - in these areas, despite the presence of numerous quality productions and strong tourist appeal, too few fully operational consortia do not allow to fully intercept the opportunities of Dop tourism".

Italy has 890 PDO and PGI products, the highest number in Europe: "We need to implement an international promotion plan - said the Minister of Tourism, Daniela Santanchè - a framework law on food and wine tourism is also essential, to guarantee quality and promote networks between the actors involved". Also for the Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, "PDO tourism is an asset to invest in to bring benefits not only to the agricultural world, but also development opportunities for rural Italy".