Digital tourism and sustainable development of rural and inland areas with food and wine tourism: the role of web portals

Rural and inland areas in Italy cover a large area. They are mainly agricultural and underdeveloped, which generates social hardship and depopulation. The study focuses on ICT as a possible tool for the development of wine and food tourism especially in these areas. After outlining an exhaustive bibliographical framework and the characteristics of the socio-economic context, it is analyzed and evaluated the innovative web portal "lacucinacampana.it", which proposes integrated information on the typical food of Campania, Italian region characterized by conspicuous tourist flows towards renowned destinations that could partially deviate towards less frequented destinations. The portal, realized by an innovative start-up, presents integrated content in 11 languages related to food products and their suppliers, local dishes with the restaurateurs offering them, associated places with their tourist attractions, itineraries, food and wine experiences, etc. The study shows that the examined web portal satisfies the needs of food and wine tourists, with a model that can be reproduced on a national and international scale, highlighting the fundamental role that ICT technologies can play in increasing food and wine tourism, especially in rural and inland areas. The study complements the modest literature on web portals aimed at tourism development, providing useful considerations and concrete proposals. The portal promotes the sale of typical food products and food and wine tourism, increasing the incomes of agri-food suppliers and registered restaurateurs. Overall, it promotes the economic development of the areas concerned, complementing the other initiatives of public institutions and trade associations. This study may also stimulate further useful analyses to address development issues in rural and inland areas.