Digital innovation in destination management between culture and food and wine

in the last decade, food and wine has acquired a growing centrality in tourism, so much so that it has become one of the main drivers of the country’s image and identity. Its potential, adequately expressed, can boost the development of tourism even in smaller territories, generating lasting economic, social and cultural value. The strength of the phenomenon is clearly linked to the extent and quality of the Italian agri-food and food and wine heritage, which conveys that richness of cultures and traditions peculiar to our country in the collective imagination, including tourism, and for this reason it is the spokesperson for “Made in Italy” in the world. In Italy, wine tourism, in particular, represents a real strategic asset, which moves an average of 14 million tourists, especially foreigners, for a turnover of 2.5 billion euros. Hence the birth of new forms, methods and places capable of involving the senses through experiences of active and qualifying use of the local food and wine and cultural heritage: lunches and dinners in the vineyard, guided tours of the cellar with tasting, thematic tastings and educational experiences in the vineyard.
A sore point for the sector, however, is the recruitment of personnel in the face of high demand. The proposal of the ITS IOTA Foundation aims to train experts capable of designing, promoting and marketing an integrated and systemic tourist offer aimed at wine tourists, characterized by experience and sharing, which can transform the overall potential of the “wine territories” into a widespread generator of value and values.

the ITS course for “Digital innovation in destination management between culture and food and wine” is aimed at training a Technician with strategic and managerial skills for building and implementing innovative hospitality and business models for the enhancement of the culture of taste, traditions and food and wine specificities of the territory, with particular attention to wine. The knowledge of the history, the evolution of food practices and the cultural, anthropological and social aspects related to food and wine, including the lesser-known excellences, but also of the cultural resources and the history of places, allow him to plan, organize and deliver animation, tasting, entertainment and restaurant services around the theme of wine and to formulate unusual proposals for visits and stories, also thanks to the use of digital solutions.
The training offer of the course allows you to acquire the skills necessary for the strategic planning of a Wine destination project, from the network of institutions and operators, to its promotion and marketing, to create a travel design that proposes new “visions”, “perspectives” and new “contents” around the offer of a company and / or a territory, and to “tell” these visions by creating new product and experience opportunities so that they become, to all intents and purposes, an attractor for the development of companies and the territory.

Course participants will be able to:

• Plan and operating in the organization of events (Wine Festivals, traditional peasant markets, exhibitions, etc.) capable of enhancing Apulian and Mediterranean products and lifestyle
• Identify innovative and attractive formulas for hospitality in the cellar and in wine venues and forms of entertainment that revolve around the culture of taste and the experience of making
• Plan and implement experiences with a high degree of digital usability, mapping the excellences in the wine territories
• Use the tools provided by digital technologies for the enhancement and use of the heritage of territorial attractors and individual production realities, according to an omnichannel approach
• Correctly implement the principles and drivers of sustainability in the design of tourist activities and destinations
• Plan promotion and marketing actions using digital strategy techniques to support the branding of both companies and territories (Web and Social Media Marketing, SEM, SEO and Content Marketing
• Govern the promotion processes of territories and businesses also through mobility management to facilitate the use of territorial resources with a view to sustainability.