Italian Culinary Tours Add New Experiences
Tano Tours has expanded its gastronomic tourism offerings in Italy. The company's new itineraries in Umbria and Campania now include hands-on experiences such as truffle hunting and mozzarella-making workshops. The tours are designed for culinary travelers seeking luxury and interactive food adventures.
- The global culinary tourism market was valued at USD 11.5 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow to USD 40.53 billion by 2030. - In 2023, food and wine tourism contributed over €40 billion to the Italian economy, with seven out of ten Italian tourists reporting they took a food-focused trip in the last three years. - The featured region of Campania is the origin of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, a cheese with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status that must be made from the milk of water buffalo raised in the area. - The traditional mozzarella-making process is called *pasta filata* (stretched curd), where fresh curds are steeped in hot whey and then stretched and kneaded to achieve a smooth, elastic texture. - Umbria is a well-known region for truffle hunting, an activity that was declared a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2021. - Truffle hunting in Italy is a regulated activity with specific seasons to protect the ecosystem; for example, the prized white truffle season generally runs from late September to late January, while summer black truffles are hunted from early June to late August. - Agritourism is a significant and growing sector in Italy, with over twenty thousand farms offering hospitality and preserving traditional agriculture, often in hilly and mountainous regions. The Italian agritourism market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 10.4% between 2025 and 2030.
