From 12 to 15 April 2026, Vinitaly returns to Verona, the international benchmark event for the global wine industry.
This year, wine tourism takes another major step forward: for the first time, an entire hall will be dedicated to the initiative Vinitaly Tourism, confirming the growing strategic importance that winery hospitality, direct-to-consumer sales, and the relationship with the final customer are assuming within the business model of wine companies.
In a challenging market context, producers are increasingly recognizing the importance of diversifying their business model by economically enhancing hospitality activities. Wine tourism is no longer a secondary activity, but a strategic asset for the economic and financial sustainability of wineries.
It is precisely within this scenario that Vinitaly Tourism was created and strengthened: a project designed to address in a concrete way the new paradigm of the wine business, increasingly oriented toward experience, data, and direct connection with both national and international consumers.
Contents
- What Vinitaly Tourism is and how it is structured
- What will be discussed and why you should attend
- The program: how the days are structured
- Organizers: what Wine Tourism Hub is
- A strategic opportunity for wineries
What Vinitaly Tourism is and how it is structured
Within Vinitaly, a hall entirely dedicated to wine tourism will host the Vinitaly Tourism initiative. This choice reflects the clear evolution of the Italian wine market.
In an economic environment characterized by margin pressure, changing consumption habits, and increasing international competition, wineries are recognizing the need to diversify their business model. In this context, wine tourism represents a complementary and strategic lever: not only hospitality, but a tool to economically enhance direct sales, strengthen brand positioning, and build long-term relationships with consumers.
Vinitaly Tourism was created with this goal: to provide a structured space where key topics related to wine tourism development, direct sales management, and direct consumer engagement can be addressed in a practical and strategic way.
Within the hall, visitors will meet leading national and international players in the wine tourism market and engage with industry professionals. Alongside exhibition areas, thematic breakout sessions will provide concrete, immediately applicable tools.
What will be discussed and why you should attend
The Vinitaly Tourism program is currently being developed and will be organized day by day, with professionals addressing the main topics related to wine tourism development.
At the core of the discussions will be data and industry insights, to understand the real potential of wine tourism today: market size, growth trends, expectations of domestic and international visitors, and the concrete economic impact on wineries. The goal is to move beyond an intuitive approach and foster a structured dialogue based on metrics, organizational models, and long-term sustainability.
The sessions will explore best practices adopted by leading wineries, how to design experiences with sustainable margins, the integration between hospitality, CRM systems, and direct-to-consumer sales, and digital tools to improve processes and performance. The focus will be on pricing strategies, internal organization, flow management, customer value enhancement, and post-visit relationship continuity.
Participating means gaining a clearer vision of how to transform wine tourism from a complementary activity into a strategic business driver. Today, discussing wine tourism means discussing business models, evolving consumer expectations, and the creation of an integrated system capable of generating long-term value.
The program: how the days are structured
The Vinitaly Tourism program has been designed to alternate between strategic insights and practical sessions, giving wineries concrete tools they can start using right away.
The opening day, Sunday, April 12, will focus on the role of hospitality as a business driver. The morning session (11:30) will explore how to turn hospitality into a true strategic unit within the winery, followed in the afternoon (14:30) by a discussion on the administrative and tax aspects of wine tourism. Throughout all four days, experiential tastings (13:00–13:30) will also take place, highlighting the more immersive side of wine tourism experiences.
On Monday, April 13, the conversation will move to topics that are becoming increasingly important for wineries. Sessions will cover the accessibility of wine tourism experiences, including a focus on welcoming guests with celiac disease (11:30), as well as the impact of wine clubs and direct-to-consumer models in the United States (14:30). The program also includes a masterclass on the role of cooperation in Italy’s wine tourism offering (12:30). The day will conclude with the talk “New travelers, new destinations: how tourism is changing and the response of Slow Food Travel.”
Tuesday, April 14 will be strongly focused on data and market trends. The day will open with an in-depth presentation on the Biodistrict of the Euganean Hills (10:00), followed by a preview of a survey exploring the perspectives of hospitality managers and tour operators (11:30), aimed at understanding the sector’s needs, challenges, and growth opportunities. The afternoon will be dedicated to organizational and growth topics, from human resources management and recruiting to the evolution of the wine bar as an experiential space (14:30 and 16:00).
The program will close on Wednesday, April 15, with the session “From authenticity to experience: designing Slow tourism in the world of wine and food.” This will be followed by a discussion on the opportunities offered by digitalization (11:30), covering topics such as guest management, shipping logistics, and the use of software and technological tools to support direct sales and the winery experience. An institutional moment will then precede the official presentation of the Wine Suite Wine Tourism and Direct Sales Report 2026 (13:00). The day will conclude with the final experiential tastings (14:30–15:30).
Organizers: what Wine Tourism Hub is
The project is organized and managed by Vinitaly in close collaboration with Wine Tourism Hub, a networking and expertise initiative dedicated to the Italian and international wine tourism sector.
Wine Tourism Hub was founded by Wine Suite and Wine Meridian, two organizations with solid experience in the wine industry. It was created as a shared initiative to provide wineries with practical and comprehensive support in developing hospitality and direct sales activities.
The ecosystem has expanded thanks to strategic partners including Winedering, Direct From Italy, and TeamSystem, further strengthening the integration between wine tourism, digital innovation, international sales, logistics, and business management solutions.
Wine Tourism Hub is a continuously evolving ecosystem designed to support wineries with concrete tools, training, strategic consulting, and integrated solutions.
A strategic opportunity for wineries
Vinitaly Tourism represents an important cultural shift for the wine sector.
For wineries aiming to strengthen direct sales, improve margins, reach new markets, and build stronger relationships with consumers, this new dedicated hall is an essential opportunity for dialogue and strategic update.
Investing in skills, tools, and organizational models related to wine tourism means building a more resilient business, capable of responding to market transformations and evolving consumer expectations.
For more information about Vinitaly Tourism and opportunities related to wine tourism development, please contact: comunicazione@divinea.com
