Vinitaly Closes with 137 Thousand Visitors
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| Photos by Loris Scagliarini |
Over 130 thousand visitors flocked to the 38th Annual Vinitaly, that closed Monday, April 1st at VeronaFiere, in Verona, Italy. That marks an increase in attendance of five percent compared to last year. International visitors numbered 27 thousand from 85 countries (+13 percent compared to 2003), while there were about 4 thousand exhibitors (+4 percent), of whom 300 international (+32 percent) from 31 countries, over a net exhibition area of 73,700 square meters (+10 percent). There were also 2,400 journalists from 60 countries.
This memorable Vinitaly met the expectations of both exhibitors and operators. It was "the best in 20 years," according to producer Gianni Zonin. Vinitaly confirmed its importance within the international exhibition panorama as a meeting place for wine producers, distributors, caterers and importers from all over the world, a landmark for comparison and a crossroads for business and ideas, capable of assisting and guiding the re-launch of the entire sector.
"We are truly delighted with the results achieved by the event and the impressive attendance," said Luigi Castelletti, VeronaFiere president. "This is very gratifying for the Exhibition Center organization, as well as for Verona, as this year the city was involved on an even greater scale than ever before. The objective of consolidating and improving on last year's figures has been fully realized and is now a stimulus to do even better next year. Many contacts have been perfected into contracts. The international attendance was impressive and the services was efficient and punctual," Castelletti added."
"We aim to export such success, since Vinitaly should be a year-round event. This is the reason we have organized Vinitaly Moscow the next June 24, the Vinitaly US Tour in Miami and San Francisco October 26 and 28, 2004 and Vinitaly China in November 24-26, 2004. We support companies in their international strategies to win over new markets," concluded Castelletti.
The exhibitors' comments were extremely positive, too. "The organization was better than ever," said the Gruppo Italiano Vini (Italian Wine Group, or GIV). "Our clients were delighted."
Carlo Alberto Panont, Lombardy Exhibition Hall coordinator and Oltrepò Pavese Consortium director, expressed equal satisfaction, highlighting the quality of the attendance. The new numbering of the halls and the more fluid arrangements, that initially were a concern for exhibitors, proved to be impressive and well-thought out and implemented."
"In addition to services, the advertising for the event was improved as well," said Nadia Zenato of Veneto producer Zenato. "If it continues like this," she added, "the show will achieve an even greater success. Of course, we must not rest on our laurels."
This year, quality attendance was evident even among non-professional visitors. A great deal of merit for this goes to "Vinitaly for You", the event within an event in the downtown Palazzo della Gran Guardia. Moreover, the higher level of knowledge among consumers, caused them to learn more about the wine culture, in addition to tasting the great Italian wines.
Perhaps this is why many exhibitors, both large and small, said that they would prefer Vinitaly not to be completely closed to non-operators. "Non-professional visitors are the people," many said, "who buy or ask for our wines at the restaurant."
Well known producer Angelo Gaja focuses on the "constant, timely and precise efforts of VeronaFiere, designed to improve awareness among institutions and associations in and around Verona. The overall investments focused on improvement to the facilities, parking areas and other amenities."
"The city itself," Gaja noted, "seemed even more joyfully receptive to Vinitaly, with hotels and restaurants determined to offer better service and quality to exhibitors and visitors alike."
Gianni Zonin has no doubt that, "This was the best Vinitaly for the last 20 years in terms of organization and attendance by Italian and international operators." He added, "My congratulations go to the VeronaFiere staff. Sicily achieved an immense success this year and next year I believe it will be the turn of the Maremma wines."
Jacopo Biondi Santi said that "the exhibition went beyond all our expectations and was characterized by quality. It was attended by a large number of wine professionals, both Italian and international. This is a good sign, it shows how the market is moving forward again after a rather slow beginning this year. Nevertheless," he concludes, "there are still too many wines and too many improvised wine-makers on the market."
Paolo Massobrio, an Italian wine and food journalist, said: "It was the Vinitaly everyone hoped for. A positive Vinitaly that ideally responded to large and small producers alike. We can only hope that next year's event will avoid battles over wine prices."
Among the various personalities that participated in the trade show, there was Gianni Alemanno, Italian minister of Agriculture and Forests. He declared that the typology of the Italian products and the links to the territory are the main reasons behind the Made in Italy worldwide.
WineCountry.IT wishes continued success to all Italian producers that participated in Vinitaly 2004 who, through their commitment, love and dedication to wine making contribute day after day to the well deserved image of quality of the Made in Italy wines worldwide.
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