There visit to an oil mill it is an experience that is still little practiced among tourists, with large margins for growth also linked to the healthy content of the experience and the inclusion of Evo oil as a beauty and personal care product, from the table to the spa, up to the well being.
According to the first edition of Report on oil tourism – presented on the occasion of the Ercole Olivario award, which also gave rise to the collaboration between Città dell’Olio, Unaprol-Coldiretti and Roberta Garibaldi, professor of Tourism Management and Marketing at the University of Bergamo and expert in food and wine tourism – 15% of Italian tourists have already taken partin the last three years, to a visit to an olive oil company, a percentage that rises to 19% in the case of tourists oriented towards food and wine experiences. In particular, only 11% of the 18-24 age group and only 10% of the 25-34 group took part, while among the over 65s the percentage rose to 23%. In the face of this “minority realization”, the data in the Report highlights the strong appeal of extra virgin olive oil and its places of production, but also of the oil culture among tourists. And it is a heritage to be put to good use in the coming years.
The main lever that pushes tourists to consider a visit to an oil mill or an olive-growing company is the shopping/tasting experience: 72% of those interviewed would like to purchase the product at attractive prices (74% among food and wine tourists) and 70% would love taste the oil and the different types produced in the company combined with local products and foods (72% among food and wine tourists). The responses related to the active tourism experiences: 70% would like to see how oil is produced, 64% want to participate in the olive harvest and 65% dream of a candlelit dinner among the olive groves. Additionally, 57% would love it try wellness centers that offer oil-related treatments and 70% would like to try different types of oil in a restaurant combined with the various dishes tasted during dinner. It also highlights the strong connection between oil and Italian historical heritage: 73% of food and wine tourists would like to visit a historic oil mill, 72% would aspire to stay in a historic residence with an olive grove and orciaia inside and 59% would like to be able to visit a national museum dedicated to extra virgin olive oil.
The beyond 480 Italian Oil Cities they are mostly small municipalitiesbelow 5,000 inhabitants and for 90% are located in internal areaswho live in a paradoxical situation of olive tree abandonment, but also of urban abandonment, because the local economy is unable to support the survival of people in these territories which are gradually depopulating. Therefore, explains Michele Sonnessa, resident of Città dell’Olio: «Defending the olive tree in these territories means preserving the human presence. And the symbol of the protection of a lifestyle and of a battle for the survival of our countries. We must talk about the oil and make people perceive the added value that extra virgin olive oil has, not only as a nutraceutical food, but also and above all for the values it interprets and represents: landscape, environment, history, culture, biodiversity with over 550 cultivars representing more than 40% of biodiversity globally, a heritage of inestimable value that we must enhance and safeguard. Oil tourism can be an opportunity to relaunch places and communities.”
That of theolive growing and of oil production it is a sector made up of approximately a million businesses for a production value of almost two billion euros per year, based on an extraordinary biodiversity (over 250 million plants, with over 550 different varieties, for 43 recognized PDOs). Therefore thinking about a systemic operation – which marks the birth of a real think tank of Italian oil tourism – has a double potential: first of all first data collection on the attractiveness of the sector and the best practices identified among the Italian companies that have already started a tourist reception project. Which will be the basis for joining the second innovation: the first national portal dedicated to Oil Tourism: it is already online, available for consultation, and in the future it will not only be a showcase site dedicated to the companies involved and to the national Ercole Olivario competition, but will offer the possibility of purchasing tourist packages from companies identified by the think tank as cases of tourist and experiential excellence . I am over three hundredIndeed, the experiences selected and present on the site and the number is destined to increase. At the same time, the think tank will carry out checks on compliance by EVO oil producing companies with the fundamental criteria of good hospitality in the company – a necessary condition for inclusion in the platform – also promoting the marketing of oil tourism experiences at a national level and international.
As for the Campaniathe Regional Council unanimously approved the proposed law on the regulation of oil tourism, promoted as the first signatory by regional councilor Tommaso Pellegrino, group leader of Italia Viva, who defined it: «An important step forward for the sector. Oil tourism is in fact a growing cultural and economic phenomenon, capable of offering numerous development and employment opportunities. The olive tree as a characterizing element of the rural landscape of Campania – continued Pellegrino – thus becomes the protagonist of a constantly growing experiential tourism not only in Italy, but throughout Europe. Campania extra virgin olive oil, an agri-food excellence known throughout the world and a bastion of the Mediterranean Diet, will become the fulcrum of unique and engaging experiences for visitors. The approved law not only promotes oil tourism, but also provides training initiatives for the production chain, thus contributing to consolidating and improving the quality of the product. The olive groves and mills of Campania will have the opportunity to become evocative and attractive places for tourists, who will be able to participate in demonstration olive harvests and tasting activities.”
In Irpinia there is a variety of cultivars peculiar and characteristic of the territory, which is the Ravece: also known as Curatona or Olivona, the origins of this plant in the province of Avellino can be dated back to the beginning of the 1500s and the extra virgin oil obtained from the pressing of its olives has always been rated among the best EVO in the world for its exceptional organoleptic characteristics. In short, a high quality production in the sector, which does not have an abundant yield and this is why it is characterized by being particularly valuable. Without forgetting the extra virgin olive oil Irpinia Colline dell’Ufita DOP – whose production area coincides with that of Ravece – which is the result of the perfect harmony between environment, variety, entrepreneurial ability and tradition, because according to numerous historical testimonies olive growing in Irpinia developed already in the 14th century. A territory for which the trinomial wine – 3 DOGC and 1 DOC – bread and oil would be enough to be happy, yet in this moment in which the desire to live quality food and wine experiences is growing, the offer turns out to be poor and the province remains stuck at zero level of tourism.
Furthermore, if we look at the Oil Tourism portal, the only two experiences present are located in Cilento: in Pioppi – the home town of the Mediterranean Diet – and in Ascea. Common pain half joy? In short, when to food and wine tourist means a person who has taken an overnight trip in the last three years that had food and wine as its primary motivation, then Campania can do much better; especially if we consider the 51,600 olive growing companies and 339 active oil mills present in the region.
The context seems favorable and oil tourism must be seen as a further impulse, continuing to maintain those cultural and identity values that make the territories unique, with a view to growth and evolution of both proposals and experiences. This matters – particularly – for those places that present unexpressed potential and wide margins for development in tourism, as long as it is harmonious, sustainable and capable of creating well-being for the territories, operators, the local community and tourists.
