Brescia Wine Road Promises to Boost Garda Enotourism and Economy
It is perhaps the most significant tourism promotion project launched in recent years on Lake Garda: a proposal that will only be fully operational in a year’s time, but which already promises to finally position the Brescia shore of the lake among the lucrative paradises of enotourism, requalifying and repositioning its image on the tourist market.
Strada dei Vini Bresciani del Garda
The reference is to the «Strada dei Vini Bresciani del Garda» (Brescia Wine Road of Garda), an 80-kilometer circular route between Gardone and Sirmione, covering the territories of the three Benaco DOCs (Garda Classico, Lugana, and San Martino della Battaglia): an ambitious project that follows a well-established reality not only in Italy, known for the Tuscan and Umbrian wine roads, but also at the European level.
Launched for the first time yesterday with a press conference at the Palazzo del Turismo di Desenzano, already funded by a contribution from the Regione, the Road is a project in development for several months: the first meetings date back to last spring, culminating, two weeks ago, in the formation of a non-profit association with a regular board of directors.
The association, which includes about twenty of the main wine producers in the area and is chaired by Andrea Guetta, will manage the initial phase of the project, which will essentially involve a widespread promotional campaign on the territory targeting potential future members, who are not only wineries, restaurants, or tourist facilities but also local authorities, institutions, municipalities, and private entrepreneurs.
Goals and future developments
The goal? To gather one hundred new members by September, elect a new board of directors, and prepare the launch of the new tourist product in the refined markets of enotourism.
«Markets that – explained yesterday Luigi Franchi, technical coordinator of the project – are currently experiencing their maximum expansion phase. Just think that only four years ago, almost no one offered tourism packages tailored to this type of offer: today, in Italy alone, there are more than 400, mainly aimed at middle-high end foreign users, with the Marco area, already strategic for Garda, leading the sector.
And we are certainly not talking about quickie packages: these products always include at least one overnight stay. In the long run, they are the ones that strengthen the economy,» he added.
The network of the project
Essentially, the Strada del Vino gardesana (Garda Wine Road), the third Brescia project after the Fanciacorta and Colli dei Longobardi roads, will be a circuit including wineries, restaurants, hotels, producers of typical products (cheeses, cured meats, olive oil), cultural institutions (mentioning the Vittoriale as the Fondazione Ugo da Como of Lonato): many entities linked by a common denominator, wine, by a brand (presented yesterday), and by a regulation that will require companies to meet a series of minimum standards of quality and hospitality.
All this to benefit an emerging tourist who, besides sun and lake, also seeks culture, environment, and local productions. With wine at the forefront.
Prospects and beliefs of the promoters
«We know well that this proposal fits into an already very powerful tourist context – said Andrea Guetta. – But we are also convinced that within a few years, enotourism can become a driving sector even for us.»
The producers believe in it, as do the restaurateurs and hoteliers, represented yesterday respectively by Arthob president Beppe Dattoli and Vittorio Cerini, vice president of the Desenzano Hotelkeepers’ Association.
«It is an initiative that represents the future of Garda – they said – and it is based on the important premise of also defending an increasingly threatened environment.»