The conference programme of talks began with 3 industry presentations given by Gold sponsor Winalist which looked at the use of OTA’s to boost bookings and revenue, Wine Travel Awards which looked at how awards in wine tourism can generate greater awareness and credibility and Armenian based Wine & Grapes Spa discussed the place of Spas and wine cosmetics in wine tourism.
David Mora Coordinator of the Master’s degree in Gastronomy Tourism, Basque Culinary Center showed us what makes people happy on a wine and/or culinary tourism experience and the importance of the guide and visit environment.
Coffee break was followed by a talk by Judith Lewis (yes more chocolate thrown at the audience in exchange for questions) who showed how to do simple and easy digital marketing for small tourism businesses and wineries and this was followed by an inspiring talk on the Czech Republic as a a grape escape destination with Šárka Nádvorníková, project manager of the Czech National Wine Centre leading a Masterclass Wines of the Czech Republic highlighting the follow wines and producers: Veltlínské Zelené 2021 VOC Znojmo, Grüner Veltliner – the most planted variety , Winery: ZNOVÍN ZNOJMO, Pinot Blanc Austerlitz 2019, Winery: Spielberg, Ryzlink Rýnský 2020, Riesling – “The King of Wines and the Wine of Kings”, Winery: SALABKA, Ryzlink Vlašský 2020, Welschriesling – the key grape variety for the region, Winery: Volařík, Pálava 2020 VOC Mikulovsko, Pálava – the original Czech grape variety, Winery: SONBERK Frankovka 2019 VOC Modré Hory, Blaufränkisch – our national red treasure, Winery: Horák.
The IWINETC Director, Anthony Swift closed the IWINETC Conference Talk programme with a few words of thanks to all the supporters of the event and hinted on where the 2024 edition of IWINETC would take place.
In the afternoon it was time for business. 28 wine tourism experience providers from diverse countries such as Armenia, Croatia, France, Montenegro Portugal and of course Catalunya and the rest of Spain. 30 international agents specialised in wine and/or culinary tourism took part in a B2B Wine Tourism Workshop, enabling both parties to make business connections.
The day ended with Networking event – The Vermouth Experience at Casa Vermouth Padrò
