With three weeks to go before the start on May 1 of the much-awaited Universal Exposition world's fair in Milan, farmers' association Coldiretti has published a report saying the event will draw an additional eight million tourists to Italy this year.
The additional foreign visitors will be spending an estimated 5.4 billion euros, of which 32% will be on food, Coldiretti said on Thursday.
"Made in Italy food products are the real force driving tourists to Italy for Expo 2015, which translates into opportunities for eating out, but also for buying food-related souvenirs", Coldiretti said. The report found that "18% of spending by foreign tourists during their stay for Expo can be attributed to meals at restaurants, pizzerias, bars, cafés and take-out shops, for a total of over a billion euros".
"To this must be added 750 million spent on typical local products in shops and supermarkets, amounting to 14% of expenditure," Coldiretti also found. The food-themed Expo, which runs through October 31 under the banner "Feeding the planet, energy for life", is expected to attract over 20 million visitors.
The report was published on the day of the inauguration of a special terminal at the port of Civitavecchia on the northern Lazio coast where passengers will be able to taste and buy the best of 'Made in Italy' food products.
The Terminal del Gusto (Taste Terminal) will feature sales points, restaurants and a reception area and was created to coincide with Expo.
It will stretch over 1,500 square meters in the Calata Principe Tommaso di Savoia, a part of the harbor that once hosted the ancient Trajan"s Markets - named after the emperor who founded the city in 107 AD - and more recent structures built under Pope Urban VIII in the 17th century. There, "approximately seven million port users" will have access to the terminal showcasing and selling Made in Italy agricultural and food products, Coldiretti said The Universal Exposition will provide Italy with a unique opportunity to showcase its food industry and cuisine.
And the health ministry this week also announced a health-awareness campaign during the world's fair whose events will vie to promote a sustainable global food system and help the fight against hunger.
"Expo will be an opportunity to compare nutritional models," Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin said this week. "The question will be not just how to feed the planet, but also how to feed it well and how to stay healthy for as long as possible".
The campaign launched this week covers breast-feeding, fertility, and healthy life styles. It includes a Web portal on food safety (www.salute.gov/expo2015) and will undertake a comparative analysis of police forces tasked with food control, such as the health and safety unit of Italy's Carabinieri military police. Police from countries participating in Expo will reportedly be in Milan on July 9-10 to set up a cooperation network.
A total of 140 countries will participate in the world"s fair and Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said this week that Italy is working on bringing his counterparts from all 140 nations to Expo between July 31 and August 1.
"If there was a G8 of culture, we would be the G1 and we want to recoup that role," Franceschini said, stressing that, in the wake of Expo, Milan could become the go-to European destination of the decade, much like Barcelona and Berlin in the past.
Overall, the Expo's massive Rho Pero location will be hosting a record 53 single-nation pavilions, along with nine clusters representing about 90 countries and theme-based pavilions.
Construction work on the site is "proceeding well", Italy's anti-corruption czar Raffaele Cantone, who is overseeing extremely strict new contract rules for the flagship event, told reporters this week.
Almost all external structures of national pavilions have been completed.
Work continues on interiors while the final touches are being given to collective pavilions, organizers say. The British and Belgian pavilions were presented on Thursday as laborers are working around the clock to finish, among others, the Italian pavilion - a major five-storey construction reported to cost some 92 million euros.
The permanent structure will remain after Expo wraps up in Milan and moves on.
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