Smart Taste Valdichiana: AI for driving green and digital transformation across the food tourism ecosystem

Smart Taste is a project that responds to the low level of digitalisation in local rural SMEs, limited awareness of sustainability practices and the need to increase competitiveness, reduce seasonality, and attract Gen Z travellers. To address these challenges, the project will develop an AI-powered B2B platform dedicated to SMEs in the local food tourism value chain.

While many digital tools in tourism focus on B2C services for visitors, Smart Taste focuses on B2B support for SMEs along the food tourism value chain. Training content and coaching pathways will be aligned with the profiles and skills identified in the “White Paper on Food and Wine Tourism Professions”, promoted by the Italian Association of Food and Wine Tourism and supported by leading national institutions.

The project is designed for easy replication and transferability across other food and wine tourism destinations in Europe. The modular architecture of the AI chatbot and its content library allows adaptation to different territorial contexts, languages, and user needs. 

For this reason, we regard the TASTE project as a valuable opportunity to reflect on the role of AI in promoting the sustainable growth of rural SMEs and to strengthen collaboration and networking with other European enterprises.