Duilio Cortassa representing similar realities and constituting Italian excellences, as well as real thematic itineraries throughout the national territory. Food and wine tourism is listed, needless to say, among national circuits of excellence, which are defined as the routes, products and homogeneous thematic itineraries linking different Italian regions, also taking into account the accommodation capacity of the districts concerned and the promotion of accessible forms of tourism, in agreements with the main tourism enterprises operating in the territories concerned through packages with advantageous conditions for young people, the elderly and persons with disabilities. 5. What are we talking about when we talk about agritourism? The above mentioned Act No 96 of 20 February 2006, opens with an extremely ambitious introduction, in line, by the way, with the narrative on agriculture-promotion shared by all European countries. In keeping with the rural development programmes of the EU, agriculture is supported through the promotion of suitable forms of tourism in the countryside, aimed at: (a) protecting, qualifying, and enhancing the specific resources of each territory; b) encouraging the maintenance of human activities in rural areas; c) encouraging multifunctionality in agriculture and the differentiation of farm incomes; d) encouraging initiatives to protect the soil, land, and environment by farmers by increasing farm incomes and improving the quality of life; e) rehabilitating the rural building heritage by protecting the specific features of the landscape; f) supporting and encouraging typical productions, quality productions and related food and wine traditions; g) promoting rural culture and food education; h) promoting agricultural and forestry development. Agritourism activities are identified as reception and hospitality when carried out by farmers, as defined in Art. 2135 of the Civil Code, also in the form of corporations or partnerships, or in association with each other, using their farms in connection with landcultivation, forestry, and animal husbandry. The code of tourism cited in previous chapter 4, defines at Art. 12, § 9, agritourist accommodation as premises in rural buildings, managed by farmers, within the meaning of the Act No 96 of 2006. Which activities exactly fall however into agritourism? Reference should be made to § 3 of Art. 2 of said Act No 96 of 2006, ruling that agritourism encompasses accommodation in lodgings or open spaces for campers7; meals and beverages consisting mainly either of the farm’s own products, or of those sourced from farms in the area, including alcohol and spirits, with preference for regional products identified by DOP, IGP, IGT, DOC and DOCG or included in the regional list of traditional food products; recreational, cultural, educational, sports, hiking and horse riding activities, also outside the farm, also through arrangements with local authorities, aimed at enhancing the territory and rural heritage. Finally, the topic at the centre of this survey, namely, tastings of farm products, including wine-tasting, to which the Act No. 268 of 27 July 1999 applies. This aspect will be addressed in the following chapter, while it is worth mentioning here that, to ensure that the agritourism activities do not have an economic impact such as to lose the link with farming, 7 Accommodation activities in rural residences, also called “country houses”, i.e., non-hotel accommodation se tvreunc tpuarretsi al lol yc a, wt eidt hi inn enxai st itoi nnga lbouri l rdei ng igosn, ar ul pr aalr ok rs , mc oannsoi rs thi nogu soef sr, oi no mt oswwnist hs ma ak li ltec rh et hnaent t 1e ,0i,f0n0e0c rees ss iadreyn, at sl soor l foacl al itnegd, iangrsiteopuarriastme. buildings but forming part of the same land, are a different concept, not to be confused with
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