Wine Routes and Territorial Events as Enhancers of Tourism Experiences

Abstract

The conceptual link between territory (in the acceptation/meaning of terroir) and tourism represents the fundamental basis for destination management and marketing of the wine and fine food tourism, both by facilitating the process of commercialization of the territory’s offering and by attracting resources and competencies. The management of the value chain of wine and food tourism, the relevance of territories, the cooperation among stakeholders, issues related to local wines, and typical products and local tourist assets are key elements: they represent the main strategic tasks of wine routes as an instrument of tourism policy and local development. The joint promotion of tourism and agriculture, with specific regard to communication and image creation, is crucial for wine and food tourism. Events in particular are crucial for their role as experience enhancers and—when their recognition on the tourism market is strong—they are even key assets for territorial branding. This chapter concentrates on the role of wine routes in creating and promoting valuable tourism events rooted in specific local identities. A success Italian case—the Franciacorta Wine Route’s set of events—is analyzed and confronted with European benchmarks.