Following an invitation from the Makers Program of the World Shopping Tourism Network, and coordinated by Zaida Semprun and Roberta Garibaldi, in the midst of the unprecedented scenario that is keeping the world paralyzed, a group of wine experts from the institutional scope, universities, renowned winery groups and consultants in the sector have joined together. Their goal is to create a working group that combines knowledge and experiences in search for solutions and concrete proposals applicable in any winery and wine tourism destination, under the new reality.
This group of experts, who have been meeting once a week since April 17, have defined three lines of work: the valorization of Wine Tourism as a relevant and transversal economic axis of the territories where wineries are located, mostly in rural settings; communication through clear messages that provide security and confidence in accordance with the new expectations for tourists; an elaborate set of relevant proposals and recommendations that are applicable to any winery or establishment, regardless of its size or geographic location. This sector moves more than 30 million amount of visitors per year, distributed in approximately in 2.000 wineries open to tourism worldwide.
This initiative counts on a diverse number of profiles endorsed by a close and long-lasting relationship with the sector in each of the cases, bringing professionals together from Argentina (Gonzalo Merino – Bodegas Argentina and Lorena Cepparo – Chandon), Brazil (Ivanne Fevero, consultant), Chile (Alicia Ortiz – Wine Tourism Chile), Spain (Chelo Miñana – Masaveu Bodegas, Beatriz Vergara – Gonzalez Byass, Tonia Castells – Freixenet, Alvaro Garnica and Oscar Manzano – Global Journey Consulting and World Shopping Tourism Network, Alberto Garcia – FEV, Zaida Semprum – Consultant for the Makers Program), France (Catherine Leparmentier – Great Wine Capitals Global Network), Italy (Roberta Garibaldi- University, Nicola D’Auria – Wine Tourism Movement), Mexico (Daniel Sanchez – Hacienda Guadalupe Winery & Hotel , Jorge Ferreira – Azteca Wineries and Victor Sixto – Codex Consultancy), USA (Claudia Vecchio- Sonoma County) and South Africa (Mariette Du Toit-Helmbold – Destinate consultant) and foresees their existence beyond this crisis situation.
The initiative promotes new solutions and aims at positioning Wine Tourism as one of the most sustainable tourism sectors with the greatest projection within the new global tourism reality.
It is necessary to remind the visitor that all the safety and hygiene measures have been carried out in the wineries, as they are centers of agri-food product production. The sector is preparing, in each of the destinations worldwide, to invite tourists to rediscover spaces and experiences adapted to the new needs, under the international motto: “Serenely, Wine Tourism.”