The 2014 Wine & Travel Blogger Fam Trip will take place from 27th March to 2nd April. Wine and/or travel Bloggers and traditional media are invited to attend and actively participate in the 7 days/6 nights Bloggers Fam Trip.
The Wine Tourism Conference promises to be every bit as exciting as the 2013 conference held in Croatia and Italy. We have a number of novel attractions to entice you and plan to provide you with a Georgian flavour and a memorable experience. A limited number of bloggers and media will be able to participate in an extended Fam Blogger Trip which consists of three parts:
1. Pre-Conference Bloggers trip (27 & 28 March) to in and around Tbilisi. Including visits to the Tbilvino Winery, sparkling wine producer, Bagrationi 1882 and Brandy producer, SarajiShvili. Sightseeing and lunch in Mtskheta. Afternoon visit to the Chateau Mukhrani winery and then back to Tbilisi for dinner. Accommodation in the 5* Tbilisi Marriott
2. From 29th to30th March a two – day Wine Tourism Conference packed with over 30 talks, workshops, round tables, plenary sessions and activities. As well as all this, the event offers a state of the art exhibition of wine tourism related products, as well as a rich “After Conference” Social Programme with a distinctly Tbilisi flavour. This includes wine tastings, winery visits, cultural visits, wine and food matching and much much more.
3. From 30th March to 2nd April a Post Conference Tour Programme
Sunday 30th March Depart for the Kakheti Wine Region and transfer to the Kvareli Eden Hotel for dinner
Monday 31st March A packed day of visits to the following:
Badagoni, Alavaredi Monastery, Twins Cellar, Nekresi Monastery, Kindzmarauli Marani, Khareba Winery and ending with dinner and accommodation at the Kvareli Eden Hotel.
Tuesday 1 April – Another packed day of visits:
Marani (Telavi Wine Cellar), Teliani Valley, Lunch and tasting at Schuchmann Visit of the Besini Winery followed by a visit of the Tsinandali Museum.
Tsinandali Palace is the perfect mixture of Georgian and European architectural cultures and in so doing symbolizes the values Aleksandre Chavchavadze wanted to 
establish in Georgia. Chavchavadze was the first Georgian noble to produce and bottle Georgian wine according to European methods. His vineyard is still cultivated to this day. Visitors can see a bottle of Saperavi wine from 1839, the first harvest at Tsinandali. There are also 16,500 bottles of other sorts of wines. Chavchavadze devoted his life to promoting and developing Georgian culture. writer, military leader, diplomat, public figure and inventor.
On the way back to the hotel a visit to the Shumi winery with entertainment.
Wednesday 2 April – Departure day
Blogger & Press Accreditation
We have sponsorship for just 15 places for bloggers and press. The pre-requisites for accreditation are as follows:
- Bloggers must run an active blog and be related to any or all of the following: wine, food and travel
- Press must write for relevant media ie wine, food and travel related. Social media specialists must actively work with blogs and social media tools and preferably their line of work is in any or all of the following: wine, food or travel.
- All participants must be prepared to deliver a talk in the conference and should submit a Speaker Proposal Form
- Important. Bloggers and media are expected to write relevant blog posts prior, during and after the event and publish them on their respective blogs. Please read the Blogger’s guidelines BEFORE you complete the Registration Form.
Registration Fees and What’s Included
There is a Registration fee of 195 Euros and this will entitle you to the following without cost:
- 6 nights accommodation
- Meals for the duration of the trip Pre Conference Blogger Day
- Entrance fee to the Wine Tourism Conference
- Access to the After Conference activities
- Free WIFI access to blog, tweet and so on (you should bring your own laptop)
- Pre & Post Conference Tour as per programme.
- Flight subsidy of up to 250 Euros
The selection committee will meet on the 30th November 2013 to define the members of the group. The deadline therefore for registration forms is Friday 29th November.
Some applications have already been accepted. To see how the team is shaping up check out the Blogger – Media Team IWINETC 2014