Thanks to its strategic location and to its highly developed harbor, Messina has played an outstanding role in the Mediterranean commercial routes. Its harbor is still a fundamental resource for its economy. The last decades have seen the growth of the wine industry, that Phoenicians, in their day, introduced to the Aeolian archipelago and Messina area. The Romans furtherly developed the field. Among the major wine labels are the Mamertino, the Malvasia of the Aeolian Islands and the Faro. Tourism is an equally important field, largely relying on the province’s naturalistic and historical riches.