How to contribute to sustainable development for the Langhe?

Following the growth of tourism in recent years, the Board of Directors of the Strada del Barolo e grandi vini di Langa has started an internal discussion, with the aim of developing a shared strategy to contribute to sustainable development for the territory and to better manage the large flow of visitors who are welcomed to our hills every year, especially in the autumn. Below is a summary of what emerged during these discussions.

• PREMISE: the Langhe have become a leading area in the world for wine tourism, with very considerable flows and significant positive effects (+10% of beds in the last 10 years, of which a large part in B&Bs spread throughout the territory) and also with further growth prospects. It is important to note that tourist flows are of different types: the extremes are represented on one side by high and very high level tourists, prepared, interested and with a high propensity to spend, and on the other side by “hit and run” tourists, often unaware and poorly informed, who therefore arrive with expectations different from what they will actually find in the area and in some cases also disrespectful. Finally, it must be kept in mind that ours is a fragile and small area, in which tourism cannot grow out of all proportion and which therefore must be managed with increasing attention to sustainability, we must set ourselves a limit, especially in respect of the well-being of residents (an element that we think is fundamental). After all, we believe it is evident to everyone that on some Sundays of the Truffle Fair and in some municipalities the tourist flows have become unsustainable compared to the image and quality of the services that we intend to offer.
• The Board of Directors of the Strada del Barolo has discussed these issues at length, namely whether and to what extent we are already in a situation of “overtourism” (which means a quantity of tourist flows that also creates damage in addition to the benefits, including environmental damage, trivialization of the product, worsening of the level of services and quality of hospitality). We also asked ourselves what kind of tourism development we want and how to take action before it is too late. It should be noted that our association represents Barolo producers and operators oriented towards high-level tourism. It will therefore be clear why this is a very sensitive issue for us and the reasons why we are alarmed by the situation.
• THEME: after having worked hard to make this territory known and appreciated, and therefore increase tourist flows, now in our opinion the time has come to manage the boom, without aiming for a further substantial increase in tourists (+13% arrivals and +18% presences compared to 2019, the best year ever) and instead to slow down the uncontrolled increase in flows
• OBJECTIVE: Although it is clear that some dynamics escape the powers of the local tourism system (now about one in two tourists stays in short-term rental facilities), the objective of the system’s players must be to maintain and indeed strengthen the image and positioning of our territory as a magnificent and also somewhat exclusive territory. To achieve this, we believe it is appropriate to limit the increase in flows in the autumn months, try to increase the number of “qualified tourists”, while discouraging the arrival of “low-qualified” tourists. This does not mean wanting to aim exclusively at elitist tourism, nor demonizing folklore and traditions that, if managed with common sense, contribute to preserving the authenticity of a territory: the goal is to propose a diversified offer, without sacrificing quality, and above all always aimed at an interested and respectful tourist.
• STRATEGY: starting from the assumption that positioning also depends on how a territory communicates, it is essential that all the actors in the territory “speak the same language” and are aligned on a shared development strategy, while considering that each type of activity (wineries, restaurateurs, hoteliers, traders, trade fair organization, etc.) has different characteristics and consequently different needs.

As the Strada del Barolo e grandi vini di Langa association, we strongly feel the right/duty to address and try to resolve this issue that is so fundamental to our future, also involving the other players in the system. Since the beginning of 2023, we have therefore organized several meetings and set up a coordination table that involves all the main bodies responsible for the tourism development of the area. Each meeting has been very in-depth and has served both to understand the needs and problems of the various bodies and to constructively debate the various issues.

One of the questions that the coordination table is asking itself is “where do we want to position ourselves“, knowing that we cannot please everyone, what type of tourism development do we want? What type of tourists do we want? How do we address the problem of the sustainability of tourist flows (focus of the last Global Conference on Wine Tourism) and how to make it happen?

Among the first solutions identified by the coordination table we highlight:

1. Better distribute flows throughout the year, offering opportunities to visit other areas of the territory that are not currently affected by the tourist boom (e.g. Alta Langa).
2. Improve the communication of the destination, conveying a clear message that takes into account the identity of the territory but also its fragility.
3. Manage more sustainable mobility (e.g. Ecolog project to move heavy traffic, enhance local public transport and promote car sharing services (a sort of “Uber” for tourists).
4. Guarantee Internet connection throughout the territory also for the purpose of better planning mobility.
5. Greater coordination between hotel, restaurant, shop managers, etc. in order to always guarantee a minimum of services even in low season (e.g. ACA initiative “Aperti per ferie”).
6. Put residents and operators at the center of territorial planning and involve them in strategic decisions.
7. Encourage tourists to extend their stay by discovering lesser-known places.
8. Discourage large and low-budget groups that are not suitable for the territory.

• We also point out that, thanks to the meetings, we have developed two documents that we make available to interested parties:
  • One that contains the good practices of the wine tourist, which we believe should be respected by both tourists and our members.
  • One dedicated to the good practices for organizing events that intend to contribute to the promotion of tourism and the correct positioning of the Langhe and Roero territory.

• Finally, a strategic and optimistic note: a great virtue of this territory has always been to think in terms of a system and therefore we are certain that also in this case, with the contribution of all the actors, we will be able to virtuously address the theme, certainly not trivial, of tourism sustainability, convinced as a campaign on tourist reception recited years ago that tourism is a “business” for everyone.

GOOD PRACTICES FOR THE BAROLO ROAD WINE TOURIST

Taking all these premises into account, the Strada del Barolo proposes to collect and disseminate a series of good practices or advice for the “good wine tourist”. Here it is:

1. The wineries in our area are almost exclusively family-run and are places where wines are produced and aged.
2. The winery is a place of production, not entertainment, so it is essential to book tastings, respect the agreed times, as well as being clear that it is not the right place for lunches, aperitifs, birthday parties, wedding parties, etc.
3. Both in wineries and in restaurants it is essential to book tastings and respect the agreed times.
4. In restaurants it is advisable for all customers to consume at least one dish each: especially in high season it is not allowed to share dishes.
5. It should be noted that there are different businesses in the area, which offer different services: for the restaurant, in periods of great affluence, it is obviously a problem to find itself serving a sort of “aperitif” if it is instead organized to offer a menu, while the bar/wine bar is specialized in this type of service. The restaurant should not be mistaken for a bar, and vice versa: those who like a cutting board, a dish to share and not a more demanding meal, are invited to look for those places that also offer this service. You could think of asking the restaurateurs to be explicit in this regard, already on the website or on the information signs displayed outside, in order to help tourists to better orient themselves.

GOOD PRACTICES FOR ORGANIZING EVENTS THAT INTEND TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE PROMOTION OF TOURISM AND THE CORRECT POSITIONING OF THE LANGHE & ROERO TERRITORY

1. Before proceeding with the organization, it is important that a strategy and objectives are clearly defined and shared for each event. The most desired objectives are: contributing to the deseasonalization of tourism, contributing to the expansion of the destination (including common tourist proposals and areas adjacent to the best-known ones, in order to distribute tourists over a larger territory and in less crowded areas such as Roero and Alta Langa), evaluating whether it is appropriate to organize biennial events (such as Cheese in Bra) or whether to extend the duration of the events to reduce the impact of daily flows (such as Fiera del Tartufo in Alba).
2. When organizing an event, it is necessary to plan and then deal with the “management of the quantitative limit”, that is, define (and then respect) the maximum limit of participants, being clear that the development of an event does not necessarily coincide with quantitative growth.
3. Define in advance what type of event you intend to organize, what the target is (e.g. tourists and what type or residents) and communicate it clearly.
4. Without prejudice to point no. 3, each event should take into account the needs of both tourists and residents and, if possible, find a synthesis between all these needs, for example, being clear that even in village festivals it is likely that tourists will participate and therefore these events, in addition to the social function, also take on a welcoming function; vice versa, events for tourists must not have too heavy an impact on residents (e.g. red zones, traffic or parking restrictions, etc.).
5. Each event must:
   • Provide a good standard of quality at an organizational level: e.g. in the booking system, in the installations, in the general decor;
   • Provide adequate and consistent communication with the values ​​of the territory, the event and its objectives and clarifying the target from the outset;
   • Provide an adequate and as eco-friendly as possible transport system to reach the event;
   • Provide an appropriate waste plan that includes separate waste collection and ensures compliance with it (e.g. staff dedicated to assistance);
   • Guarantee the value of authenticity (consistency with the purpose);
   • Guarantee the value of typicality (using, where available, only local products);
   • Convey a social message that invites, for example, not to abuse alcoholic beverages and not to drive after drinking.