Another Vinitaly has come and gone

The 55th edition of Vinitaly closed with praise from participants and satisfaction on the part of FieraVerona. We at DoctorWine also did well with our 12 seminars and countless tastings.

There is no question that Vinitaly is an indispensable annual event for the world of Italian wine. The trade fair continues to expand and VeronaFiere is proud to be able to report data that is increasingly positive.

“Vinitaly closed with 93,000 attendees overall, of which 29,600 were from abroad. Compared to the last edition, the growth was almost totally due to the increased participation of foreign buyers (around +20%) from 143 countries, which in this edition represented a third of the total of accredited sector operators”, according to a press release from Vinitaly. And the producers we saw (quite a few by all of us at DoctorWine) spoke of a good public composed of high-profile operators and competent wine lovers, which for Vinitaly represented a true comeback after the pandemic, even if last year also saw more than positive signs. The biggest difference was the return of operators from all non-European Union markets: “from Asia the number more than doubled (+116%) led by the Chinese, who numbered over 1,000, and Japan (143%). Those from the Americas climbed +38% with a big jump for the United States (+45%) and Brazil (+46%), while those from Canada continued to rise (+19%). The number of Australian operators tripled (+130%)”.

This in no way meant that suddenly every exhibitor was able to find importers or distributors to open new paths into foreign markets, only that great opportunities emerged to engage in new businesses and, all things considered, this is the aim of a trade fair.

It was, obviously, not all roses: there was a consistent general complaint over the absurd price hikes in the city, where the price for hotels during the fair became prohibitive, for the two-shifts at restaurants, taxis were impossible to find and traffic was chaos. Many of these problems have difficult solutions, given the structure of the city itself, but it is equally true that many producers no longer want to be treated as chickens to be plucked by the services of Verona’s hospitality sector. This is something that the city should reflect upon and about which VeronaFiera should let its voice be heard.

We also noticed the absence of some important producers, which is never a good sign. For sure, the reasons for this are many and different, but it is another thing that the Fiera should dwell upon, to try and understand whether this small phenomenon can be held in check before it hemorrhages.

For our part, the fact that the location of our stand was radically moved, from pavilion 9 to the gallery between pavilions 2 and 3, created some problems in regard to the seminars, since some of our more faithful clients automatically went to the old location despite the fact that we tried to inform every one of the change. But in the end everything went well just the same and the quality of the wines presented during our 12 masterclasses and those made available from the automatic dispensers was sufficient to please the many attendees who made it to our stand and enjoyed the services we offered despite having to walk a little more.

Set the date: Vinitaly 2024 will be staged April 14-17.