Gensy* was not simply a convention, nor was it a food and wine event in the traditional sense. The 2025 edition of the association’s biennial convention Ulysses’ Sicily rather marked a moment of collective reflection on what it means today to talk about wellness, hospitality, wine and travel in a region as complex and fascinating as Sicily.
Last November, at the Gensy congress in Palermo, nearly two hundred journalists and industry professionals gathered to discuss a key idea: putting people back at the center and the land as a value, not just a backdrop.
The heart of the congress: thematic talks
If Friday’s diffuse dinners and final party were the most convivial moments, the cultural heart of Gensy was undoubtedly Saturday, hosted in the halls of the Grand Hotel et Des Palmes. Here the four thematic talks shaped what has, in fact, become a manifesto on humane and sustainable hospitality.
Different but complementary perspectives, bringing together professionals in food, wine, hospitality, tourism and culture.
Food: feeding is never a neutral act
The first talk addressed food as a language of care and awareness, deliberately breaking through the reassuring rhetoric of hedonism at all costs.
lass=”yoast-text-mark” />>Bringing the topic of eating disorders to the stage was not a symbolic choice, but a way to remember that food always has an emotional and social dimension
Testimonies from the associations Stella Danzante and La Farfalla Lilla restored concreteness to the discussion. The discussion among the guests highlighted a key point: telling about food today means taking cultural responsibility.
Wine: identity, moderation, storytelling
For DoctorWine, the second talk was the most anticipated and could give even more. Here wine again became part of a cultural system, not an isolated object.
>From the decline in per capita consumption to the rise of no and low alcohol, what we have been saying for some time has emerged: wine loses value when it is disconnected from the table, from the land, from human relationships.
The concept of conscious moderation, reiterated by Wine in Moderation, appeared not as a limitation, but as a modern key: drink less, but better; drink to understand, not to accumulate.
In this vision, wine remains a vehicle of conviviality, memory and identity, provided it is told with honesty and inclusive language.
Hospitality: the gesture before the structure
The talk devoted to hospitality shifted the focus from “luxury” understood as a standard to the quality of the relationship. Space architecture, design, service and storytelling only work if they serve a broader idea: making the guest feel part of a place, not just a consumer of an experience.
A contemporary welcome capable of creating bonds and memory, especially in a region like Sicily, where hospitality is part of the cultural DNA. Remembering that-as has been said-you can forget a room, but not a polite conversation.
Journey: well-being as transformation
Closing the day, the talk on travel broadened the view even further. Travel as a transformative act, as a path of personal growth, encounter, and even as a “creative crisis”-an idea far removed from hit-and-run tourism and much closer to an experience of awareness, where food, wine, and landscape become tools for reading the world.
Travel as a tool for regaining balance and meaning, in an increasingly holistic view of tourism.
A possible Sicily
Gensy 2025 was also a time to tell the story of an evolving association. During the congress, five new entries were announced, including restaurants and hotels, including the first associate in the province of Trapani. A clear sign of how La Sicilia di Ulisse is building over time a coherent network of places, people and visions</strong>, more than just a “collection” of excellence.
The congress closed with a clear message: Ulysses’ Sicily does not only want to promote excellence, but to propose a model. A model in which hospitality, food and wine and travel speak the same language: that of respect, culture and humanity.
A message that, for those involved in wine and territory, sounds as relevant as ever: without storytelling, without relationship, without awareness, even the greatest wine risks remaining mute.
*Starting with this edition, the association’s biennial convention has taken on the name Gensy, a word that recalls the Latin root gens, meaning community, people, belonging. A term that well represents the spirit of the initiative: putting people, territories and relationships at the center . Going beyond the product to tell about a system of shared values.
