ABSTRACT
Italy is among the most prominent countries when it comes to wine and food production, processing and consumption. However, the growing share of Chinese tourists to Italy hesitate to consider wine and food as primary motives in destination choice and as major activities when visiting the country. Adopting a sociology of consumption perspective, this chapter empirically investigates current barriers for wine and food-related Chinese outbound tourism towards Italy and explores future potential for improvement. The study finds that current and future consumption patterns of Chinese outbound tourists regarding wine and food need to be interpreted not only as a hedonistic experience, but rather as an opportunity to elevate status and prestige through demonstrative consumption. Thus, increasing the symbolic value of Italian wine and food might be a lever that helps strengthening the link with Chinese outbound tourism in the future.
