Rethinking Wine Experiences

The Piana Rotaliana Königsberg is an alluvial plain located in the heart of Trentino (Northern Italy) surrounded by mountains with a tradition of wine-growing that dates back centuries. Today it contains the highest concentration of producers of the whole province. However, until 2015 wine tourism was somewhat underdeveloped. In that year the local tourist board (Consorzio Turistico Piana Rotaliana Königsberg) began to work — together with a group of visionary local producers, municipal stakeholders, cultural institutions and community organisations — on a plan to put niche wine tourism at the centre of local development. The plan involved, among other things, the establishment of a series of training labs (organised in partnership with Trentino School of Management and international wine tourism experts) aimed at a selected group of local wine producers, and intended to upskill them in the latest product marketing techniques and the creation of new and unusual wine experiences. Exchanges and networking events with international high profile eno-tourism experts, together with the launch of a Handbook, were the activities undertaken up to December 2022.

Lia Ghilardi has worked with the tourist board of Rotaliana since 2021, assisting stakeholders in brainstorming ideas and strategic actions that see stakeholders from leisure, environment, gastronomy, sport, culture and heritage work together on a portfolio of actions aimed at grounding innovative forms of wine tourism in the community and locality alike.