The 50th edition of Vinitaly, one of the world’s most important wine and spirits exhibitions, was held in Verona from April 10th to 13th 2016. The way to this relevant anniversary was led last year by Vinitaly’s operative management of the Wine Pavilion at Milan’s Expo and by constant international promotion of the event. This year’ trade fair took place within 100,000 net square meters of exhibition space (a new record); the largest in the world, hosting more than 4,100 exhibitors from more than 30 countries.
Veronafiere (Vinitaly’s organising body) recently summed-up facts and figures regarding this year’s fair, stating it has been a clear success. In general, professional attendance has been on the rise, totalling 130,000 visitors from approximately 140 countries, of which 28,000 have been international top buyers (up 23% compared to 2015). In detail, audience statistics within top international buyers by country recorded growth for United States (+25%), Germany (+11%), United Kingdom (+18%), France (+29%), Canada (+30%), China (+130%), Japan (+21%), Northern Europe (+8%), Netherlands (+24%) and Russia (+18%).
There were also positive returns on the home front, with operators from Central and Southern Italy up on average by 15%. The four days of the wine exhibition not only hosted B2B meetings but also more than 300 specific events including conferences, seminars and training courses. Traditional exclusive tastings reached a climax with the one organised by Vinitaly International Academy in honour of Giacomo Tachis, one of Italy’s greatest wine-makers, who recently died.
At the same time, Vinitaly’s twin event “Vinitaly and the City”, aimed to involve and satisfy non-professional wine-lovers outside the exhibition’s walls in Verona, was also successful in attracting almost 30,000 participants. “Vinitaly and the City” was lively and offered tastings, shows and cultural events in the beautiful setting of Verona’s historical city squares. “The goal was to provide a clear signal to exhibitors and visitors, to ensure that the 50th Vinitaly would project the show into the next fifty years” said Maurizio Danese, President of Veronafiere. He further declared: “We created a format that fully satisfied expectations, both for wine business specialists within the exhibition centre itself and through the wine festival in downtown Verona, with an extremely popular edition of Vinitaly and the City, and this is a source of pride and commitment to improve even further next year. This edition was also an opportunity to celebrate the history of an event that has promoted Italian wine and its culture around the world for 50 years”.
On the side of business politics, Vinitaly number 50 was the first edition to be officially inaugurated by an Italian head of state. President Mattarella highlighted the role of Vinitaly as a “vehicle for, and symbol of, Italian wine quality, renowned throughout the world”. Vinitaly 2016 was also visited by Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, who discussed developments in wine online sales alongside Mr. Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba (a Chinese e-commerce world-leader). The latter, speaking in Verona, launched the idea of having a “Wine Day” in China on September 9th.
As usual, Vinitaly was combined with Sol&Agrifood, (a relevant agricultural and food trade fair, in which premium olive oil is the star) and Enolitech, an exhibition promoting accessories and technologies for winemaking and olive oil production. See respectively, www.solagrifood.com and www.enolitech.it.
Vinitaly’s 51st edition will take place on 9-12 April 2017. For further information, visit www.vinitaly.it.
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