The concept of wine tourism involves more than simply visiting a winery sampling wines and perhaps taking a tour of the vineyard and the cellars. Pardon my triteness but if you visited a few wineries have you visited them all? Terribly boring and repetitive after a time. Wine tourism necessitates businesses, tourist authorities, restaurants, wineries, providers of accommodation and governments work in tandem in order that these separate components firstly realize they must work together to create a symbiotic relationship and then draw up and execute an action plan. For example you visit a winery what better way to truly discover wines than consume wine with food. Does the winery have a restaurant, bistro or some light snack area? Are there restaurants close to the winery offering a gastronomic experience? Are there recognized “tourist sites” nearby? Are the wineries offering experiences such as musical events or offering specially catered events prepared by local chefs. Yoga or painting classes in the vineyard? Virtual cooking lessons including pairing of wines with the food being prepared? Each one of the gastronomic, touristic, governmental and winery components are in a symbiotic relationship as each benefits from wine tourism.
I attended the initial Wine and Travel Week in Porto, Portugal last February and had the opportunity to see how wine tourism works in theory and practice. There were regional Portuguese and international exhibitors. The concept of wine tourism is simplistic isn’t it! The difficult part is to establish it and that requires vision, a will to work in a symbiotic relationship and governmental funding.
Upon my return from Porto when visiting winery websites in the EU, Chile and Argentina I noticed many wineries have a tab to click “Wine Tourism” where they describe what wine, gastronomy and accommodations are available at the winery or nearby. They may offer linkages to tours of the area or offer them to patrons. I fail to see that tab in any convincing fashion in Canadian winery websites. The wineries are aware of the advantages of symbiotic touristic relationships but is there any vision to drive awareness into a unified approach?
And I don’t hear much about provincial or federal governments providing much funding to promote Canadian wineries abroad. Niagara wineries in Ontario are proximate to Niagara Falls, gastronomic establishments and numerous historical sites all solid selling points. At Wine and Travel Week I was taken in a group of 10 from Porto to Pico Island in the Azores. Eight were tour operators who looked at me in a puzzled fashion as I took notes on wines tried at Pico Island wineries. They happily drank (no spitting!) the wine. All they were interested in was there local wine and what were the local sites and what quality were the accommodations and what was a tourist to do to have fun! They asked why if Canada has such tremendous sights and a significant amount of wineries why weren’t there any Canadian exhibitors taking advantage of a rich base of tour operators to sell Canadian wine tourism. I ask myself why it is easier for me as a wine writer in Toronto to secure press trips to the EU to discover Euro wine tourism than it is to secure a funded invitation to the Okanagan a fantastic wine producing region. The answer I received, “No money”.
Perhaps my next step is to determine what funding is available to Canadian wineries from governmental authorities to promote Canadian wine tourism abroad.
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