East Lombardy 2017. Food and Wine as travel motivations: opportunities and challenges

This was the title of the third international conference on Cultural Tourism that took place at the University of Bergamo the 11 December, under the patronage of the European Commission. The meeting was dedicated to investigate the themes related to food and wine tourism.
A special section was devoted to East Lombardy, that obtained the European Region of Gastronomy Award for the year 2017. Roberta Garibaldi, of the University of Bergamo, leading the project, explained that ” the culture of food is becoming increasingly important in the expectations and motivations of travellers. The food allows to show the authenticity of an area and the tourist wants a genuine proposal, closely related to the characteristics of the area and to its culture. The new trends confirmed new motivations and new expectations of tourists: they not only look for dining experiences, but to a more deep contact with local community, cultures and traditions, healthy lifestyle, meetings and authentic experiences, sustainability, creative itineraries. The conference provided an opportunity to analyse the present situation and the challenges of this tourist target, consumer trends, and managing the development of events and communication “.
The conference was organized by the University of Bergamo, Municipality of Bergamo and Circuito Città d’Arte della Pianura Padana.

 http://dinamico1.unibg.it/turismo/default.asp