ROME, June 3 — Six months after opening to much fanfare and nabbing international headlines, the numbers are in for Fico Eataly World, also known as the Disneyland of Italian food.

Since opening in November, about 1.5 million people visited the park in Bologna, helping to put the area on the international radar: Most recently, Lonely Planet named the Emiliga-Romagna region the hottest European destination of 2018, attributing its travel interest in part to Fico Eataly.

Billed as the world’s biggest agri-food park, Fico Eataly World spans 100,000 square metres — for comparison, that’s bigger than Buckingham Palace—and features food markets and restaurants alongside indoor farms, factories and multi-media exhibits.

Workshops, seminars and demonstrations are also held in the space.

Of the 1.5 million visitors, nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) came from outside Bologna, including 8 per cent of foreign visitors mostly from France, the UK, Germany, the US, Switzerland and Spain.

Between January and May of this year, the Fico Foundation also organised 127 events, which translated to 250 hours of free training and education to visitors on everything from food production to sustainability. — AFP-Relaxnews