WINE TOURISM

Wine tourism refers to tourism whose purpose is or includes the tasting, consumption, or purchase of wine, often at or near the source. Wine tourism can consist of visits to wineries, vineyards, and restaurants known to offer unique vintages, as well as organized wine tours, wine festivals, or other special events.

Many wine regions around the world have found it financially beneficial to promote such tourism; accordingly, growers associations and others in the hospitality industry in wine regions have spent significant amounts of money over the years to promote such tourism. This is true not only to "Old World" producers (such as France or Italy), but also for the so-called "New World wine" regions (such as Australia, Argentina, or Chile), where wine-tourism plays an important role in advertising their products. In Argentina, for example, the Mendoza Province is slowly becoming one of the top tourist destinations in the country as Argentine wine strides to gain international recognition.

The National Wine Centre of Australia is a tourism venue that showcases the entire Australian wine industry. It is an education hub for tourists, the general public and full time students. The National Wine Centre is a teaching centre for wine-related academic programs of The University of Adelaide, Australia. The University of Adelaide, "the wine university", is one of the top two educators in the world for wine studies along with the University of California - Davis.

Flinders University in Australia offers a degree program in food and wine tourism.

Wine Tourism Overview

One of the world’s fastest growing industries is “Wine Tourism”. What is it? How can we best benefit from it?

Firstly, let’s keep it simple. If tourism” is simply the provision of goods and services that attract tourists, then “wine tourism” is the same but has the added influence of wine. Wine tourism is not only associated with cellar door wineries, rather all business that are involved in the wine, tourism and associated industries with the wine region. This includes accommodation houses, tour operators, gift shops, national parks etc.

If the desired outcome of “wine tourism” is attracting more tourists then the real secret to success is having a clear understanding of the needs of your potential customers. Once this is clear you can focus on attracting tourists to our wine regions, improve business and target specific customers to your region.

Queensland has the advantage of already having an established tourism industry. Many wineries don’t appreciate how involved they are in the tourism industry. An area that most regions have identified as important to meeting customer expectations is the need to integrate wine with quality food. There is no question that food plays an important part in adding to a region’s ambience and unique character.

To obtain long-term success, each region needs to focus on really defining their point of differences, rather than trying to out perform another region. Identifying and consistently delivering a unique wine experience is what each region must strive to achieve. This fits well into both Tourism Queensland’s and the Department of State Development strategy to promote regional tourism. Global trends indicate that tourism is one of the most dynamic growth sectors and the demand for a quality experience is rising rapidly.

Irrespective of the way tourism is formally defined, it is first and foremost a ‘people industry’ involving the development and supply of a range of facilities, services and experiences to meet the needs, aspirations and expectations of visitors. Tourism is complex and diverse, involving many different forms of commerce. Most tourism businesses are part of the much larger services industry. At the local and regional level, the industry comprises tourism operators, businesses not directly involved in tourism, local and regional tourism organisations, community groups, residents and local government. By working together destinations have the capacity to attract visitors, satisfy their leisure needs and expectations, and generate economic and other benefits for the whole community.

Competition is fierce, especially from overseas destinations, for domestic and international travellers. Throughout Australia, many innovative products and experiences are being aggressively and professionally promoted offering tourists an ever-increasing range of options. In the highly competitive industry of today there is no room for a poorly planned or half-hearted approach. Planning is essential for any community or region to develop a sustainable tourism industry and gain maximum return on assets and investment. The first step is the development of a comprehensive regional tourism development plan. It should take into account the product, resources and potential markets, as well as the needs and aspirations of stakeholders including local communities. The plan establishes a vision and strategy for long-term, sustainable tourism growth.