Tourist harvest: how to manage it safely

For many years in some areas of our country attempts have been made to regulate the phenomenon of wine tourism. With the protocol signed on 12 July 2023 by the National Labor Inspectorate and the National Association of Wine Cities, some general rules were provided to be observed which have a national value and which, if respected, protect company owners from any assessment by the supervisory bodies.

Let's briefly analyze the bureaucratic burdens that weigh on the farm that hosts wine tourists.

How the tourist grape harvest works

The tourist harvest is that occasional activity carried out by "wine tourists" who, on some occasions, directly participate in the harvest activities in the cellars and on the lands of producers of high quality wines.

This activity cannot be considered an employment relationship. It does not involve the provision of any compensation in money or in kind and must be:

a) restricted to a few hours, in the morning or afternoon;

b) cannot be carried out more than twice in the same week at the same company;

c) the harvest rows must be recognizable and distinguishable from those where normal harvesting activities take place, with the exclusion of mixed carrying out of the two activities;

d) the map and cadastral coordinates where the tourist grape harvest takes place must be reported, in advance, to the one-stop shop for production activities (SUAP) or equivalent counter.

Organizational responsibilities for owners of wineries

The tourist harvest must be carried out under the supervision of specifically trained company tutors who can supervise a maximum of 8 tourists at the same time.

The tutor must ensure compliance with safety regulations and guarantee the pursuit of recreational purposes. Both tutors and tourists will be responsible for wearing identification tags with the words "tutor" and "tourist grape harvester".

Tourists must be prohibited from accessing environments other than those where teaching takes place (with adequate spaces and lighting) and from using equipment that presents a danger.

The harvest must take place in absolute safety: the company must make clothing, footwear and equipment available; the tutor, in addition to supervising, will have to provide indications both in relation to the tools to be used and the behaviour, with an absolute prohibition for wine tourists to carry out the operations of loading and unloading the boxes of grapes and operating any machine. agricultural.

Before starting the tourist-educational activity, the company must take out specific civil liability insurance towards tourists, guaranteeing compliance with local provisions also in relation to communications on dedicated days to the tourist harvest.

Before starting the wine tourism activity, the company must communicate to the Municipality, through the SUAP, or equivalent desk, a series of data such as:

a) insurance policy number and expiry;

b) name of the company contact person and the tutor;

c) place where the activity will be carried out with reference to the map sheets and the time in which the activities will be carried out;

d) general information on tourist grape harvesters.

Controls and documentation to be kept

The host company must keep and make available to the Inspectorate staff all the documentation required by the protocol.

The topic was deliberately treated in a concise and simplified way. For further information you can contact us through the usual channels.