Vinitaly USA 2026
From 26 to 27 October 2026
Italy at Vinitaly USA 2026: wine as a national strategic asset and emblem worth over €3 billion
Italy will be at Vinitaly USA 2026 (New York, 26–27 October) to highlight the value of wine, a national strategic asset and emblem, and the country’s increasingly central role in the wine tourism sector.
An institutional presence, in the form of a press conference organised for 27 October at midday, featuring Ivana Jelinic, Chief Executive Officer of Italy’s national tourist board, ENIT, and the Honourable Gianluca Caramanna, Adviser to the Minister for Tourism on institutional relations and member of the 10th Committee of the Chamber of Deputies (Industry, Trade and Tourism) and in the creation of a publishing hub in Italian and English dedicated exclusively to wine tourism, hosted on the website enit.it. A kind of descriptive repository, this will offer individual stakeholders an overview of all Italian regions and their industry offerings.
In an international market with a growing demand for authentic experiences linked to local areas and identities, wine offers a unique gateway for exploring Italy. According to an analysis by the ENIT Research Department based on data from the UniCredit-Nomisma Wine Monitor 2025, 98% of wine tourists intend to repeat at least one wine-related travel experience in the next two to three years, while 85% name Italy as their favourite destination for future experiences.
Click on the image to enlarge
The US market has confirmed its importance in Italian tourism. In the first half of 2026, 1.9 million travellers from the United States visited Italy, generating over 17.7 million overnight stays. Compared to the same period in 2025, spending rose by 7.5%, the number of travellers by 6.2% and overnight stays by 7.6%.
Against this backdrop, interest in food and wine tourism is also growing. In 2025, 30,000 US travellers chose Italy for a food and wine-inspired holiday, twice as many as the previous year, spending €42.3 million. This figure reflects a wider shift in international demand, with wine tastings and winery and vineyard tours increasingly combined with cultural, gastronomic, nature-based and sustainability-related experiences (Source: ENIT Research Department based on Bank of Italy data).
The Italian Ministry of Tourism considers wine tourism a priority to be developed in international markets too, through ENIT with a view to boosting Italy’s competitiveness, supporting local economies and promoting sustainable growth of rural areas and small towns.
“The Ministry of Tourism wholeheartedly supports and promotes wine tourism, a strategic sector that is worth 3.1 billion euros, showcases local areas and villages and helps distribute visitor numbers more evenly throughout the year. Wine is one of the most emblematic expressions of Italian excellence and, together with culture, landscape, gastronomy and hospitality, it shares our nation’s identity and excellence with the world. The United States is a crucial market for Italy, generating €6.6 billion in tourist spending and 3.6 million overnight stays here in 2025, a figure that continues to rise. This is why Vinitaly.USA is a key event for promoting our wine tourism offering, supporting businesses and enhancing Italy’s appeal”, said Italian Tourism Minister Gianmarco Mazzi.