Wine tourism is on the agenda. In September, the World Tourism Organisation partnered with the Georgian National Tourism Administration to present the first UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism in Kakheti, while November marks the first edition of South Africa’s Business of Food and Wine tourism conference.
And yet for wine tourism to be successful, according to one expert, it needs to be about more than wine.
Context is everything
Dr Robin Back is Assistant Professor at
the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida. He says that while wine aficionados definitely want to visit different wine regions just to taste the wines, “a number of studies have shown that wine tourists desire more from the experience than just wine”. Other draw cards include good food, an experiential and educational opportunity, and the experience of a beautiful landscape.
Where does this leave wineries who are looking to develop a wine tourism offering? Dr Back says the first thing is to work out why they’re doing it. “The development of wine tourism has only really existed since probably the 1970s, and started with wineries opening their doors to passing traffic in the hope of selling wine,” he says. It started as a marketing activity, and for many wineries that’s how it has stayed, because they’ve realised that wine sales are more profitable at the cellar door. “I was in Bordeaux over the summer and went to some of the top châteaux, which tend to be appointment only,” he recalls. “I said, ‘you’re not really trying to develop wine tourism, are you?’ They said, ‘We’re fully booked every day’, but they’re fully booked taking one small group at a time.” The reason, he explains, is that they consider their business to be selling wine, not tourism. But there are other businesses that are wine-and-tourism, while others are purely tourism, using wine as the draw. Dr Back says that, for example, a winery is being built near Orlando, Florida that will be mainly fruit wines. They’re “putting in seven acres of gardens and will offer a farm-to-bottle wine experience,” but it’s purely a tourism business. “Your real wine aficionados aren’t going to want to taste blueberry wine in Orlando.”
Creating a destination
Dr Back says a cluster of similar businesses will also be more of a draw than an individual business. “It’s why we have groupings like wine routes, where people spend a day on a wine route stopping off at wineries, restaurants and other activities. People usually want something more than a single winery.”
But wineries that aren’t on wine routes can make themselves into tourist destinations too. Dr Back says that in South Africa, where wine tourism is well established, individual wineries offer a range of attractions, from restaurants and delis, accommodation and botanical gardens. “When I look at South Africa, they have a large Muslim population in the Cape who don’t drink alcohol, but they still come to the wine lands and tour and have a lovely day tasting other farm products, while dining and enjoying various activities. Yet I would still consider this to be wine tourism.”
While wine tourism is an integral part of many New World wine regions, it’s been slower to develop in the Old World, partly because of tradition, but also because of local zoning laws. But Dr Back says wine tourism is also developing in these regions, it’s just that it’s typically happening in surrounding villages.
The future
As tourism becomes an increasingly important part of the wine business, the number of conferences on the subject will rise and more tourism frameworks will be developed. “It’s also being seen as a way of developing rural areas in need of economic development,” says Dr Back. “Wine tourism is considered an indispensible part of gastronomy tourism, and we’re seeing this link between wine and food tourism, as the two are so closely connected.”
Another reason wine tourism is growing is that people are on the lookout for more authentic experiences. “Wine tourism – thinking not just about the wine tasting experience itself, but also the peripheral activities – is able to fill this need for authenticity and a natural environment. Wineries and wine regions should be mindful of this and ensure they maintain the authenticity of the overall experience.”
So the future of the wine business will be full of tourists – some of whom will be heading to Georgia, which took the message of the recent conference seriously. “As the ‘cradle of wine’, they realise it has the potential to be a great draw.”
