Sue and I have just returned from a trip to Sicily. We went as tourists — Sicily is one of the few regions of Italy we haven’t visited until now — but you can be sure that wine was always on our minds.

Sicily’s Tourism Boom

We were not alone. Tourism is booming in Sicily, with international visits growing even faster than on the mainland, according to official statistics. As anecdotal evidence, I offer this: The Rick Steves “Best of Sicily” tour we enjoyed is essentially sold out for the rest of the year. Add Sicily to the list of “must-visit” Italian destinations.

The Sicilian wine industry has taken note of this trend and is working both to attract wine tourists to Sicilian shores and to introduce traditional tourists to the pleasures of wines. A recent article in Il Sole 24 Ore titled “Sicilian wine, the future lies in targeted exports and wine tourism” explains the strategy.

Sicilian wine is preparing for the coming years with a double objective: defending exports in a more fragile international scenario and transforming wine tourism into a stable lever of growth. This is the picture that emerges from the Nomisma Wine Monitor research for UniCredit, presented today in Palermo together with the 2026 edition of Sicilia en Primeur, scheduled in the capital from 11 to 15 May.

Sicilian wine export numbers have held up better than those for Italian wines overall, according to the study, as Sicilian producers have been better able to take advantage of shifting consumer preferences from red wines to white wines. But perhaps the bigger story is tourism in general and wine tourism in particular.

In this strategy, wine tourism becomes a decisive element. For Italian wineries, it is already worth 3.1 billion euros and generates an average expenditure of 123 euros for the purchase of wine in the cellar, 41 euros for tasting, and 145 euros for an overnight stay. In Sicily, the phenomenon has an even more international profile: the clientele is mainly made up of foreigners, particularly Americans, Germans, and British. And there is one figure that weighs in: in the Etna municipalities linked to the Etna Doc specification, tourist arrivals grew by 17.4% between 2019 and 2024, against a regional average of 12.4%.

Even more significant is the figure for Americans. Among US wine tourists who want to experience Italy in the next two or three years, 26% indicate Tuscany and 16% Sicily. The island is already the second destination evoked, and this places it in a favourable position in one of the most important markets for regional wine.

Although cellar door sales to visitors are obviously important, it is important to remember that wine tourism is an opportunity to connect wine to history, culture, and cuisine and to establish personal connections. Sue and I have seen this effect in South Africa, for example, and especially in Portugal, where the recent growth of tourism has established an identity that embraces Portuguese wine.

The game will shift here: less dependence on trade flows alone, more ability to retain value in the territories. If Sicily knows how to transform its reputational advantage into experiences consistent with the identity of the wineries and capable of speaking to an international audience, it will be able to strengthen export, brand and marginality together.

Case Study: Benanti Shows the Way

Our tour group’s scheduled visit to the Benanti Winery in the Etna zone provided an excellent example of how the wine tourism strategy can work.

The Benanti Winery is noteworthy in several respects. Giuseppe Benanti was one of the leaders in the Etna quality wine push starting in 1988. The winery is known for its commitment to native grape varieties, its focus on single-vineyard wines, and especially for its signature wine, Pietra Marina Etna Bianco Superiore. Joe Bastianich highlighted this 100 percent Carricante wine as one of Italy’s finest wines in his 2010 book Grandi Vini. New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov listed it as one of his most memorable wines of 2025.

Brothers Antonio and Salvino Benanti have taken their father’s vision to the next level, making the business side of the winery as strong and intentional as the production side, raising quality all around, and fostering the growth and reputation of both the Benanti brand and of Etna DOC wines generally.

Wine tourism is an integral part of Benanti’s plan. The visitor experience is carefully designed, taking place at a hospitality facility (not the working winery) and focusing on history, place (Etna and the vineyards), family, and culture. The wines are tasted with local cuisine (of course!) in a beautiful setting. It is a first-class experience carefully designed and executed with intent to create a favorable and lasting impression.

We asked Salvino Benanti about the strategy to embrace wine tourism.

You are right about tourism being on the rise. It is something we are witnessing all over Italy, with Tuscany leading the pack and Sicily trailing just behind. I am, personally, very glad about this surge, because it allows us to come into contact with new enthusiasts every day and build a loyal community. The way we manage this sudden rise in numbers is simple. We only offer curated, high-end experiences, therefore segmenting our audience at the source and making sure that only seriously interested visitors reach out to us. This allows us to create a strong bond with our guests, effectively converting them into eager, spontaneous ambassadors of Etna and Benanti.

Since our visit was part of a Rick Steves tour, Sue wondered how that relationship got started. Salvino Benanti explains that …

The relationship with RS [Rick Steves] dates back to 2013. Rick’s local guide, Alfio Di Mauro, visited us “incognito” on a gloomy, cold winter day and casually asked if we would be available to host a group of cheerful Americans in the coming weeks. We said yes and…. the rest is history. Rick himself has visited us on two occasions and we really appreciate his drive, energy and commitment to his customers and his suppliers. He is a great man.

Over the years, we have hosted thousands of RS travelers — some more than once — and we have also met many back in the US. What Rick has created is really a great community, which we are proud to belong to!

Significantly, the Rick Steves guests are generally tourists first and wine tourists second (if at all), but the Benanti experience seems to draw these two threads together. The results include cellar door sales in Sicily, retail sales back home, brand ambassadors throughout North America (Benanti’s largest market), and growing awareness of Etna DOC wines.

Of course organized visits like ours is only one element of a wine tourism strategy. While we were in Catania Sue and I participated in a cooking class organized by Cotumè. It was a fun experience and we enjoyed the food and wine when we were finished. Sue later discovered that the cooking experiences take place at several nearby wineries, including (of course) Benanti.

The future of Sicilian wine tourism is promising, but to be really successful it must go beyond cellar door sales to build markets and reputation abroad as the Benanti Winery is doing. The opportunities are great, but there are challenges, too, which we will address in next week’s Wine Economist column.