It’s been another great edition of IWINETC. Here are some of the highlights:
Day 1 Monday 25 October
IWINETC 2021 uncorked with new connections made while on an afternoon tour and tasting at Calem Cellars! Conference delegates embarked on an interactive tour and tasting in this hotspot for Port wine tasting! New insights were gained at one of the oldest Port wine houses, Caves Ferreira! Speakers and delegates explored the ancient caves together and enjoyed a guided tasting of Port wines during an IWINETC exclusive tour. The welcome reception proved very popular! A veritable journey of wines guided by Ligia Marques through Portugal was on offer. Wines were tasted from the Algarve, Madeira, Alentejo, Douro, Vinho Verde, Dão, and more from wineries dating back to the 11th century. The welcome reception was put on at Casa Ferreira where conference delegates were treated to a live performance of traditional Fado music while enjoying a mouthwatering assortment of Portuguese delicacies.
Day 2 Tuesday 26 October
The Opening Ceremony included welcome speeches from Anthony Swift, IWINETC Director, Ricardo Valente, Vice Chairman of the Porto and North of Portugal Tourism Board, Filipe Silva – Turismo de Portugal Board Member and José Guilherme Aguiar – Vereador da CM Gaia. The Porto and North of Portugal Tourism Board opened the conference talk programme with a plenary session consisting of two two talks: Destination Porto and North of Portugal delivered by Raquel Rodrigues and The Porto and North of Portugal Wine Tourism Routes delivered by Manuel Pinheiro.
The day continued with inspiring talks from industry experts such as Chris Torres on Traveler Intent for 2021 and Beyond, Carlos Brito on Wine Tourism Branding, Felicity Carter on Dealing with Disruption and Judith Lewis on Post Pandemic Digital Recovery to name just a few of the speakers on stage.
The day ended with a a “MasterClass” of a wine from each of the 4 regions making up the Wine Tourism Routes of Porto and North Portugal which was followed by an evening networking dinner at the World of Wine (WOW).
Day 3 Wednesday 27 October
The conference brought past and future together: conference delegates discussed how the future could be shaped and also analysed important data on wine tourism from the past. Delegates attended several interactive presentations by the industry experts, highlighting the importance of such concepts as sustainability, innovation and customer engagement.
After a light lunch delegates were able to witness a Regata of Rabelo boats on the Douro, demonstrating the traditional way of transporting Port wines.
In the afternoon it was time for business. 22 wine tourism experience providers and 30 agents specialised in wine and/or culinary tourism took part in a B2B Workshop at the stylish Lodge Wine and Business hotel, enabling both parties to make business connections. The day ended with Networking dinner at VINUM restaurant looking over stunning Porto by night.
Day 4 & 5 Thursday & Friday 28 & 29 October.
Agents, media and several conference delegates spent two days discovering Porto and the North of Portugal as a grape escape destination with visits to wineries and Port Cellars such as Quinto do Seixa, Quinta da Roeda, Vintage House, Sandeman and Taylor’s to name 4 of the many visited.
Day 6 Saturday 30 October
Saturday morning saw many delegates visit the World of Wine (WOW) complex with the majority opting for the Wine Experience and Planet Cork. Entrance tickets to WOW were kindly sponsored by the Fladgate Partnership giving all conference delegates the chance to visit this 105 milllion Euro attraction.
Here’s the video. See if you can spot yourself!
