Italians celebrated their cuisine’s UNESCO ‘intangible cultural heritage of humanity’ status on Wednesday as a victory for cultural diplomacy, however, critics cautioned that it would backfire by converting well-liked dishes into tasteless tourist fare.
On Wednesday night, the Colosseum in Rome will host a light and sound show to commemorate a winning pitch that presented Italian cuisine as a living legacy based on shared rituals, community, and seasonality rather than merely a collection of recipes.
“Italian cuisine is our most formidable ambassador,” said Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in a video message.
Italy is already popular for its cuisine and it’s agri-food supply chain contributes around 15 percent of the country’s GDP. The country is likely to profit economically from the UNESCO listing.
In a market that is becoming increasingly divided between high-end and budget options, it may also provide some respite to traditional family-run eateries, which have long been the foundation of Italian dining.
According to a study by Rome’s Unitelma Sapienza University, the 2017 UNESCO listing of Neapolitan pizza-making led to a 284 percent increase in professional courses, while agritourism in the southern Italian island of Pantelleria increased by 500 percent over 10 years after its vine cultivation made way to the UNESCO list.
“I’m truly happy about this recognition,” said Manuela Menegoni, who runs Trattoria Bianca and Osteria Fernanda in Rome with her chef husband Davide Del Duca.
“I hope it will spur job creation, drive investment in innovation and deliver tax incentives across the entire food supply chain, which has long been overlooked by policymakers,” she added.
According to industry associations, UNESCO recognition could increase travel by up to 8 percent in just two years, resulting in an additional 18 million overnight stays.
Researchers, however, caution that these benefits frequently come with overtourism pressures, as demonstrated in the northeastern Prosecco hills and Venice, where UNESCO recognition has attracted numbers that exceed local capacity.
The historic city centers of Italy are increasingly in danger of turning into what some have dubbed “gastronomic theme parks.”
“Bologna has become a “mangificio,” (food factory). Checkered tablecloths and straw chairs are everywhere, in an invention of tradition for the benefit of external consumers,” said Alberto Grandi, a food historian and author, in an interview with Reuters.
He expressed his worry about the possibility of food gentrification. This is the process by which traditional, reasonably priced, and culturally ingrained dishes or eating customs are converted into posh, fashionable, and frequently pricey equivalents.
“If the goal is to save Italian gastronomic culture, it will be the exact opposite,” he added.
“This is a marketing ploy that sells a standardised vision of Italian cuisine linked to a dozen dishes that must be offered everywhere because tourists expect them. This is to the detriment of a deeper understanding of Italian culinary history, which is being lost,” Grandi remarked.
Menegoni said that the current problem is to make sure the recognition enhances routine activities rather than encouraging low-budget mass tourism, such as the sandwiches and pizza slices that are so popular during the 2025 Jubilee of Rome.
“Our best foreign clients told us, ‘See you next year,’ because they avoid crowds and prefer exclusive experiences that only quality venues can offer.
“Any effort to promote Italian cuisine worldwide is welcome,” she added.
Italy said in its bid that the nation’s “living gastronomic landscapes” reflect its biocultural richness and that the cuisine’s adherence to sustainable, seasonal, and non-wasteful recipes contributes to its distinctiveness. The proposal further added that a sentimental bond with food is created when family customs are passed down through generations.
Meanwhile, the nation’s prior additions to the list of intangible cultural heritage includes–Manual bell ringing (2024), opera singing (2023), truffle hunting and extraction (2019), Neapolitan pizza makers (2017), and celebrations of large shoulder-borne processional structures (2013). In 2013, Italy was added to the list of countries that follow the Mediterranean diet.