Vineyards Magazine

Vinitaly closed the doors with attendance of 148,000 visitors as +6% (53,000 international). Vinitaly 2013 strengthened its position as the leading international wine business exhibition. Top quality operators during the four-day event in Verona were able to contact more than 4,200 exhibitors from over 20 countries.

The upward trend was evident right from the first day – and final facts and figures clearly confirm this impression.
“We achieved attendance of 148 thousand people, including 53 thousand international from XX countries: this is an important result for one of the major ‘Made in Italy’ sectors – one that still drives the country’s balance of trade as well as providing employment and income in local areas as well as holding high the image of Italy world-wide. A 6% increase in the total visitors rewards more than 4,200 exhibitors from more than 20 countries investing in Vinitaly, thereby clearly acknowledging the international centrality of the exhibition,” said the President of Veronafiere, Ettore Riello. 

“This increase of 10% in international involvement over 2012,” added Giovanni Mantovani, CEO & Director General of Veronafiere, “was equally accompanied by the high quality of visitors. Visitors increasingly include specialised international operators and buyers not only from traditional markets but also from emerging countries, where there is growing interest in Italian wine, such as China and Russia.”
Even more journalists attended the event: 2,643 from 47 countries compared to 2,494 from 42 nations in 2012. 

The international market

A fundamental contribution to such success was the incoming promotional activity implemented Veronafiere through Vinitaly International and its representatives in 60 countries, which made it possible to welcome trade delegations from all continents to Verona, as well as the agreement with ICE – the Italian Agency for International Promotion and Internationalisation of Italian Companies.
OperaWine is one of these events: while dedicated to foreign buyers, it also has a strongly focus on the US market thanks to collaboration Wine Spectator. Moreover, three focus events were dedicated to China this year alongside attendance at the show by an official delegation from the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China.
Already a showcase for wine all over the world, with OperaWineExpo Vinitaly in Verona will also become the most important wine event in the calendar of scheduled events in Italy for the Milan Expo in 2015, thanks to understanding defined with Giuseppe Sala, CEO of Expo 2015.

During the event, Sace ( the organisation for the development, competitiveness and internationalisation of Italian companies ) presented the latest export report and the guide to high-potential markets 2013-2016 for the wine sector, with a focus on the Veneto. Simest and its CEO Massimo D’Aiuto, on the other hand, outlined a project for promoting Italian “Moscato” wine on foreign markets.
Vinitaly was also the location chosen by Unicredit, Coldiretti, Cia and Confagricoltura to sign the agreement ensuring the support for the wine sector and the presentation of “UniCredit International for Wine” – a project that provides wine-sector SMEs a dedicated series of services to support exports.

The 2014 edition is already firmly in mind (scheduled 6-9 April): it will welcome the debut of VinitalyBio, a new section of the exhibition dedicated to certified organic wines organised in partnership with FederBio.

Henry Borzi