Two out of every three foreign tourists to Italy consider food and culture their primary reasons for visiting, planning to spend collectively 1 billion euros on eating out and dedicating one-third of their entire travel budget to food, according to a tourism study released Monday by agricultural group Coldiretti for Expo 2015.
The survey, conducted by Italian tourism consulting group JFC, revealed that 67% of Expo visitors plan to spend their time doing other things in addition to Expo, and that 72.7% of the estimated 8 million foreign visitors for Expo plan to stay in the country between three and seven nights.
Tourists also largely plan to seek out non-traditional lodging experiences, the survey revealed, with 61% opting out of hotels in favor of farm stays (19%), friends or relatives (19%), or holiday homes (23%).
The most sought-after products include those in Tuscany, which boasts the largest number of traditional agricultural products on offer, with wine, cheese, and olive oil making up 44.9% of products that tourists engaged in "culinary travel" plan to purchase.
Coldiretti President Roberto Moncalvo highlighted Italy's leadership in Europe for organic agricultural products, citing that Italy's presence of chemical residue outside of regulations, 0.6%, is lower than that of half the countries in the European Union.
Moncalvo said Italy's agriculture makes up a part of the national cultural heritage, and is something the country "can offer with pride on the occasion of Expo".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
