Who we are

Agriturist is the National Association for Agritourism, the Environment and the Territory, the first agritourism association in Italy, established by Confagricoltura in 1965, to promote and protect agritourism, national regional food and wine products, the environment (for this reason it obtained ministerial recognition as an environmentalist association in 1987), landscape and rural culture.

The word "agriturismo" was born together with the name of the Association, and the constituents of the time (in particular the "founding president" Simone Velluti Zati, who remained in office from 1965 to 1998) promoted the phenomenon, taking inspiration above all from experiences French and British. Since 1998, the president of Agriturist has been Riccardo Ricci Curbastro, viticulturist and wine producer, as well as agritourism operator, in Franciacorta. On 21 June 2007, Vittoria Brancaccio, who runs an olive and fruit growing company on the Sorrento Peninsula, was elected president.

Since June 2013, the president of Agriturist has been Cosimo Melacca, owner of an agritourism company in the province of Savona. Agriturist has given an essential contribution to the enactment of the state framework law which currently regulates agritourism (Law 20 February 2006, n. 96) and the regional laws which dictate the specific rules.

On 17 September 2019 Augusto Congionti, organic agricultural entrepreneur and agritourism operator in the province of Macerata since 1987, was elected the new national president of Agriturist.

The Association

The Agriturist associates agricultural companies ("ordinary" members) that carry out or intend to carry out agritourism activities, assisting them from a regulatory, organizational and promotional point of view. An "online" information system disseminates real-time news and updates on the main aspects of agritourism management.

Promotional initiatives

Other promotional initiatives are activated according to specific projects. The Agriturist also associates agritourism enthusiasts, from these "adhering" members the Association systematically receives opinions on the quality of the companies visited, thus having valuable information to improve the offer. The Agriturist is a confederation of Regional Associations and Provincial Sections.

The national headquarters is in Rome, the regional and provincial headquarters are at the headquarters of Confagricoltura (Regional Federations and Provincial Farmers' Unions).