13 JULY 2017
ARTICLES | RELEASES
Prosecco Hills, the Treviso hills, an international tourist destination
From the most exported Italian wine in the world, to a tourist destination
Prosecco destination: network contract signed
As many as 16 companies in the Treviso foothills come together and focus on the tourism economy
A 400 thousand euro promotion project presented
From product to tourist destination: Prosecco is much more than a wine (the most exported Italian wine in the world), it is identified in the imagination of the potential international tourist as a culture that reveals the territory that that wine has generated. Already today the “Prosecco” destination is the most sought after by wine tourism lovers of Anglo-Saxon origin (US and UK markets). An interest that also concerns German, Russian and Chinese tourism and is reflected in the numbers of presences: if 2016 was positive for the whole of Veneto (18 million arrivals), in fact, the territories of the Trevigiana and Valpolicella foothills have registered increases double-digit percentages. Faced with such an important growth, the Prosecco Hills Business Network has now been born, which aims to strengthen the fabric of the tourism economy, currently too fragile and fragmented, managing to establish itself on international markets as a unitary brand and with commercially appealing hospitality proposals.
The network contract was recently signed by 16 companies based throughout the Treviso foothills (from the slopes of Grappa to Asolo, passing through the Prosecco Superiore DOCG hills, reaching Conegliano). They are heterogeneous companies, both in size and in their area of expertise: they range from tour operators, transport companies, renters (bike and Vespa Rent), restaurants and hotels, up to dairies (from Soligo to Perenzin). Lead partner, with a managerial role of address, is UNPLI Treviso, Union of the Pro Loco and organizer of the Primavera del Prosecco Superiore, the most important wine tourism event in Veneto (3 months of events, 17 wine exhibitions, for an estimated attendance 300 thousand visitors every year). “We are proud that our experience, strengthened by 22 years of history, and our ability to unite many different realities, from the smallest Pro Loco to the world of producers, has been recognized – explains the president Giovanni Follador -. The Prosecco flywheel made it possible to maintain an intact territory, because it was worked by man, unlike many Italian foothill areas in abandonment. Today we can enjoy a priceless landscape, made up of rural villages, churches and capitals, and nature walks, and we are Italy’s official candidates for UNESCO protection for the landscape. The future here is certainly the wine, but also and above all our landscape and our history that will be able to generate a new economy “.
It is essential, at this time, to structure the reception offer, counteracting the pulverization of reception and accommodation activities, in order to be able to present itself on international markets. “These territories, among the first in Veneto, have understood that an integrated proposal must be offered: culture, nature, food and wine; and were able to seize the opportunities put in place by the Veneto Region and European funds. There are already 16 member companies and there are many – recalls the Regional Tourism Councilor, Federico Caner – but I ask other companies to register, because the more they are, the more we will be able to establish Prosecco Hills as a quality international tourist destination. We must let the tourists, too many, who crowd the streets of Venice, know another Veneto, certainly not inferior ”.
Bringing the tourist to the historic area where Prosecco DOCG wine originates is an experience that excites and involves all the senses. The tourist interested in these areas has a much higher spending capacity, but is also more demanding, requires a personalized travel itinerary, which allows you to try engaging activities (visits to the cellar, guided tastings, excursions), where the combination is evident. culture / nature.
For this reason, the Prosecco Hills business network has applied to access the projects funded by the new ROP (Regional Operational Program) through the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund). “We presented a project for a value of 400 thousand euros, which sees – explains Federico Capraro, owner of a hotel in the network and president of the Provincial Hotelier Group of Treviso – the sharing of calendars of events, packages of tourist offers, digital infrastructures and marketing activities. We trust that our proposal will be awarded, thus starting concretely as early as September. But the first and most important goal remains to educate the area to a radical change of mentality, for a business culture which, through a
structured dimension in the offer and a single voice in communication, capable of affirming the international appeal of the Prosecco territory. We have to say thanks to the Unpli director of this union and to the enthusiasm of the first 16 member companies. But this is an open network and the world of wineries and producers is ready to enter and will be welcome ”.
“We must open up more, receive and accompany visitors to make them understand the history of this territory and the sacrifices that are made here to cultivate vines or to be farmers. Not only wine, here there is religious tourism (I am thinking of the Abbey of Follina), here there is an excellent restaurant “, adds Lorenzo Brugnera, president of Latteria Soligo, a reality that has entered the network and has recently announced the desire to create accommodation activities around the establishment (from a B&B to a school of dairy culture).
The members:
Onda Verde Viaggi – Incoming Agency (Follina)
Ai Cadelach – Hotel and Restaurant (Revine Lago)
Castelbrando – Hotel and Restaurant (Cison di Valmarino)
Perenzin Dairy – Dairy and Restaurant (S.P. di Feletto)
Vesparent Dolomiti – Vespe Renter (Vittorio Veneto)
Canon d’Oro – Hotel (Conegliano)
Coop Altamarca – Gastronomy (Miane)
Al Castello – Restaurant (Conegliano)
Via Roma Bike Rental – MTB Renter and Mechanic (Paderno del Grappa)
San Giacomo – Hotel (Paderno del Grappa)
Bosa Service – Transfer (Borso del Grappa)
Garden Relais – Hotel and Restaurant (Borso del Grappa)
Antica Abbazia – Hotel, Restaurant and Camping (Borso del Grappa)
Ciclomeccanico – Renter and MTB Mechanic Punto Rosso Wilier (Cison di Valmarino)
Soligo Dairy – Agricultural Cooperative Society (Farra di Soligo)
Discovering Veneto – Incoming Agency (Onè di Fonte)
INFO: Prosecco Hills Business Network
0438.893385 – proseccohills@gmail.com