“Vision by Open Balkan”: The wine promotion mission of Vinitaly and ICE-Trade Agency
The mission to promote Italian wine by Vinitaly and ICE Trade Agency is heading to the Balkans. Thursday 16-Sunday 19 November 2023 sees Belgrade, Serbia, host the second edition of “Wine Vision by Open Balkan”, the most important wine fair in south-east Europe with more than 600 exhibitors from 28 countries.
50 Italian wineries are attending the event from 12 regions: Abruzzo, Campania, Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, Marches, Piedmont, Apulia, Sicily, Tuscany, Trentino Alto Adige and Veneto (taking the lion’s share with as many as 21 exhibitors). 
Vinitaly, in collaboration with ICE Trade Agency, leads the Italian delegation brought together in the Italy Area: more than 1,000 square metres of exhibition space for four days will welcome professionals and opinion leaders in the sector keen to discover or learn more about Italy’s impressive wine offering. Master classes and tastings are also on the calendar, as well as an agenda of B2B meetings with importers and operators to establish new contacts and assess strategies and sales opportunities.
Italian companies attending “Wine Vision by Open Balkan” will be able to meet selected buyers from 15 target markets: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and Turkey.
Wine Vision by Open Balkan. From the left: the Director of the ICE Tade Agency Head Offices in Belgrade, Antonio Ventresca, the Managing Director of Veronafiere, Maurizio Danese, the President of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia, and the Italian Ambassador to Serbia, Luca Gori.
“The continental block descending from the Baltic along the Balkans is one of the most promising for Italian wine in terms of consumption,” explained Maurizio Danese, Managing Director of Veronafiere, the owner and organizer of Vinitaly. “Today, these countries are worth 320 million euros in terms of exports, with average annual growth rates between 2010 and 2022 in the order of 10%.The positive trend continued by posting another increase in the first seven months of this problematic 2023, with a further leap in value of almost 20%. This is why Veronafiere is keen to improve its positioning and penetration in this macro-area, not the least in terms of attracting buyers and promoting incoming attendance during the run-up to the next Vinitaly show (14-17 April 2014) where the Open Balkan group show will return following success this year.”
Sparkling and semi-sparkling products are the type of Italian wine most exported to the 15 countries in south-east Europe covered by the B2B event in Belgrade, with an overall share of more than 55% of the value generated. Prosecco is growing very strongly (30% of total), having exploded in the last two years especially in Poland and the Czech Republic. The latter are, in order, the main importing countries of Italian wine with a share in excess of 60% of the overall market; followed by Slovakia, Romania and Albania.
The ribbon cutting ceremony for the Italy Area at “Wine Vision by Open Balkan” was attended, in addition to the Managing Director of Veronafiere, Maurizio Danese, also by the President of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia, the Italian Ambassador to Serbia, Luca Gori, the Director of the ICE Trade Agency office in Belgrade, Antonio Ventresca, and the Sales Director of Veronafiere, Raul Barbieri.