Tourism is a huge industry for Italy, and much of this can be attributed to the wine industry as well. The Italian business world has recognized this and is working hard to merge the two - wine and tourism - more and more. I think food should also be added to the list! Who doesn't love Italy for its food and its wine as well?

From Wine Tourism in Italy: Opportunities for Culture and Business:

Today, tasting wines directly in cellars is not only an increasingly common phenomenon among wine enthusiasts (involving 53% in accordance with "The Wine Lover" research) but also travelling along and around wine itineraries is also becoming very popular (27.8%).

"Wine tourism, in short," said Valentino Valentini, President of the Cities of Wine Association, "is a reality enjoying continual growth, that already today involves 540 Italian towns. Wine has virtually moulded the local system, with visitor flows doubling over the last two years".

Activities involve all targets in the world of tourism that, given its potential, today requires further effort by institutions, not only by setting aside even more resources but especially by encouraging national and international visibility of the packages offered by the nine Italian "Wine Routes".

"The problem, in short," said Giorgio Boscolo, Boscolo Tours, "is to bring together all information in a single place, physical or virtual, so that potential tourists can, on the basis of their requirements and passions, find, choose and book the solutions they prefer." Wine and food travel, that "The Wine Lover" research indicates as involving 23.7% of wine enthusiasts, is expanding continually, "demonstrating that the wine tourist niche in the past has given way to a new kind of tourism involving the so-called lovers of good living - as they were defined by Alessandro Regoli of Wine News - who are not only aware of good drinking but also of the cultural and natural aspects that chosen tourism centres have to offer. Wines lovers themselves," he went on, "are no longer happy simply to visit cellars and taste quality wines but also seek personal contact with producers and want to be personally involved in wine-making activities".