Italy: The Business of Wine & Food
Langhe • Florence • Bologna • Lake Como | 10-Day Faculty-Led Program
An Immersive Exploration of Wine, Food & Hospitality in Italy
Designed for students in hospitality, business, food studies, wine management, tourism, and related fields, this immersive program explores how Italian food and wine traditions connect with entrepreneurship, hospitality, regional identity, and international business.
Traveling through some of Italy’s most celebrated food and wine regions, students learn directly from wineries, food producers, hospitality professionals, artisans, and local experts. Through guided visits, tastings, hands-on workshops, and conversations with industry professionals, students examine how Italian businesses preserve tradition while responding to contemporary markets and global consumers.
What Students Explore
WINE BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT | Examine how wineries build successful businesses around regional identity, production, quality, hospitality, and global markets.
FOOD & HOSPITALITY | Explore the relationship between food production, service, tourism, and the guest experience across Italy’s distinctive culinary regions.
ITALIAN FOOD CULTURE | Discover how traditional foods, local ingredients, craftsmanship, and regional identity shape Italy’s culinary economy.
HANDS-ON LEARNING | Learn through wine tastings, culinary workshops, gelato-making, producer visits, and direct conversations with hospitality professionals.
GLOBAL HOSPITALITY | Compare Italian approaches to wine, foodservice, service, and luxury hospitality with practices in the U.S. and other international markets.
10-Day Itinerary
A Program, Built to Be Customized
This itinerary is designed to show what an Italy Business of Wine & Food program could look like. Specific wineries, producers, workshops, hospitality partners, site visits, and sequencing will vary based on your program dates, group size, academic goals, and local availability.
We’ll work with your faculty and study abroad team to adapt the program around your course objectives and students. Activities listed below are examples and are subject to availability and confirmation.
Day 1 | Arrival & Introduction to Italian Food & Wine
Arrive in northern Italy and travel into the Langhe, one of the country’s most celebrated food and wine regions. Based in Alba, students begin the program with an in-country orientation and their first introduction to Italian hospitality and regional food culture.
Sample Experiences:
Arrival in Milan • Transfer to Alba • Program orientation • Italian hospitality • Welcome dinner
Day 2 | Wine, Tradition & the Langhe
Explore the connection between wine, regional identity, and Italian food culture. Through a wine workshop, tastings, and a visit to a local winery, students gain insight into the traditions and businesses that have made the Langhe internationally recognized.
Sample Experiences:
Banca del Vino workshop • Wine tasting • Regional food pairing • Barolo wine region • Family-run winery • Free time in Alba
Day 3 | Food, Wine & the Italian Landscape
Travel south toward Florence while exploring the relationship between regional ingredients, cuisine, wine, and tourism. Along the way, students visit a winery and experience the diversity of Italy’s culinary landscapes.
Sample Experiences:
La Bollina Winery • Food and wine experience • Regional specialties • Wine tasting • Ligurian coast • Cinque Terre exploration • Florence
Day 4 | The Art of Italian Food & Florence
Experience Italian cuisine as both a product and a craft rooted in tradition and place. Students participate in a hands-on cooking experience before exploring Florence and considering how food, culture, tourism, and place intersect within one of Italy’s most iconic cities.
Sample Experiences:
Hands-on cooking class • Culinary techniques • Florence walking tour • Ponte Vecchio • Brunelleschi’s Dome • Free exploration
Day 5 | Independent Exploration & Italian Culture
Students enjoy a flexible day to explore Florence independently. Optional activities provide opportunities to discover the city’s food, culture, markets, museums, and hospitality scene.
Sample Experiences:
Independent exploration • Local food culture • Markets • Museums • Optional cultural activities
Day 6 | The Business of Balsamic Vinegar & Lambrusco
Travel through Emilia-Romagna, a region renowned for distinctive food products and culinary traditions. Visits to family-run producers reveal how generations of craftsmanship, regional ingredients, and hospitality come together to create successful food and wine businesses.
Sample Experiences:
Balsamic vinegar producer • Tasting • Local lunch • Wine museum option • Lambrusco winery • Guided wine tasting • Bologna
Day 7 | The Craft of Artisan Gelato
Explore one of Italy’s most recognizable culinary traditions through a hands-on gelato-making experience. Students examine the techniques, craftsmanship, ingredients, and traditions behind artisan gelato while experiencing Bologna independently.
Sample Experiences:
Gelato-making lab • Demonstration • Seasonal flavor tasting • Maritozzo tasting • Bologna exploration
Day 8 | Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto & Italian Hospitality
Continue through Emilia-Romagna to explore two of Italy’s most celebrated food products. Students follow the production and aging processes behind Parmigiano Reggiano and Prosciutto di Modena before connecting food production with agriturismo and hospitality.
Sample Experiences:
Dairy farm visit • Parmigiano Reggiano production • Cheese aging • Prosciutto production • Cured meat tasting • Agriturismo • Hospitality discussion
Day 9 | Luxury Hospitality on Lake Como
Explore the expectations of luxury travelers through a behind-the-scenes look at hospitality on Lake Como. Students engage with hotel management and examine how service, food quality, accommodations, and local identity shape the luxury guest experience.
Sample Experiences:
Hotel management discussion • Hotel operations • Guest accommodations • Luxury hospitality • Service and food quality • Lake Como • Farewell dinner
Day 10 | Departure
The program concludes with a transfer from Lake Como to Milan Malpensa Airport. After exploring Italy’s food, wine, hospitality, and regional traditions, students begin their journey home with new perspectives on the global business of food and hospitality.
Sample Experiences:
Breakfast • Final reflection • Airport transfer • Departure
Make this program your own
Start Here. Then Shape Around Your Course.
This itinerary is a starting point. Depending on your goals, we can place greater emphasis on areas such as:
Wine Management
Wine production • Regional identity • Tasting • Winery operations • Wine tourism
Hospitality & Tourism
Guest experience • Hotel operations • Service • Tourism • Luxury hospitality
Food Business
Food production • Entrepreneurship • Regional products • Supply chains • Culinary markets
Business & Entrepreneurship
Family businesses • Innovation • International markets • Branding • Consumer experience
Food Studies & Culinary Arts
Italian food culture • Traditional techniques • Ingredients • Craftsmanship • Regional cuisine
Global Business
International hospitality • Cross-cultural business practices • Global consumers
We can also adjust the program length, locations, museum visits, workshops, creative activities, reflection, accommodations, meals, and level of EdOdyssey Program Leader support.
Could this work for your students?
Use this program as your starting point or tell us what you’d change. We’ll work with you to align the itinerary with your course objectives, students, preferred dates, group size, and budget.
Have a different academic focus in mind?