Conference sessions – 2019 Basque Country, Spain

The ARTIUM Museum of Contemporary Basque Art (Museo Vasco de Arte Contemporáneo de Vitoria-Gasteiz) will be the venue for the Official Welcome reception for the 11th edition of the annual International Wine Tourism Conference, Exhibition and Workshop (IWINETC).

At the Welcome Reception (Monday 11th March 2019) conference delegates from around the world will be greeted and warmly welcomed by our Premium Sponsors and the IWINETC team and will be treated not only to a range of pintxos and wines from the region but also to traditional Euskedi music and dance.

The Artium Museum main lobby houses two stunning works of art: the Mural Céramico by Joan Miró  and Llorens Artigas and the monumental sculpture A piece of Crystallised Sky (Un Pedazo de Cielo Cristalizado), by Javier Pérez – involving over 15,000 glass bulbs hanging like tear drops from the ceiling.

IWINETC is the leading global event for the wine and culinary tourism industry. The 3 day event (2 day conference & 1 day Workshop) delivers thought provoking professional education, an extensive exhibition area to discover wine travel destinations and their wines, a focused business environment for tour operators to meet wine tourism experience providers and a chance to discover the wine tourism highlights of the host destination. Arrive early and get the best seats and meet the sponsors.

This opening plenary talk will  journey in and around the wine regions of the Basque country showing the audience that its a grape escape destination that demands exploration beyond the delightful main cities of Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz and San Sebastian.

Rioja Alavesa ha desarrollado exponencialmente el Enoturismo, sobre todo en los últimos años, poniendo en valor tanto los recursos tradicionales como sumergiéndose en la vanguardia de la enogastronomía y el turismo. En esta ponencia descubriremos cómo ha sucedido tal evolución desde la experiencia de una nativa de la comarca y profesional del sector.

Grab a coffee, make friends with someone you don’t know and together peruse the exhibitors around the room.

Sometimes it can seem difficult to wade through everything and identify what the best solutions for the wine travel and tourism business might be in social media. Using examples from travel and tourism businesses, this session will walk you through what others have successfully done and what you can do without investing too much time and money. We will cover Facebook organic reach, styles and posts as well as paid options and how they perform, Instagram (part of Facebook) options when organically only certain accounts can add clickable links, and Twitter and whether it is still worth investing in.

Based on the research conducted while coursing the Food Tourism Master at Basque Culinary Center. Gastrodiplomacy is a brand new term that defines how food & wine can be used to build or improve destination image, promote their cultures, globalize their food industries, attract international tourists, and build relations with international wine and food lovers.

Growth and innovation in wine tourism is based predominantly on the people who work in this sector. 
Starting from a diagnostic of needs, we will analyse the existing opportunities for training at local/national and international level. And we will highlight the added value strategies for the development of professional skills that can be better for the future of the sector.

Technology is moving fast.  New buzzwords and acronyms such as AI and IOT are creeping into our everyday language. The technologies that sit behind the buzzwords are creeping into our everyday lives. How are technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and the Internet Of Things going to impinge on wine tourism?  Will they have a major impact or no impact at all?  In this session, you will hear a future perspective on tomorrow’s technology and how it might impact on wine tourism.

In accordance with the increasing popularity and quality of “Japanese wine”, which is wine made 100% from domestically produced grapes, wine tourism is booming in various local areas of Japan. In this talk session, various policies, initiatives and strategies in industry, government and academia in Japan will be analyzed in terms of promoting wine tourism and clusters in the country.

Network and connect with fellow wine and culinary tourism professionals over lunch. Enjoy some free time to visit a number of exciting exhibitors.

Unlock the power of transformative wine tourism experiences and discover why Gen Y and Z are changing the way we create and market experiences.

Los canales clásicos de venta del enoturismo, tanto venta directa como intermediada, se han visto complementados por múltiples herramientas de comercialización efectivas a través de canales digitales. En este nuevo escenario, no solo las empresas pueden actuar, también los territorios de vino tienen mucho que decir para dinamizar la comercialización de las empresas de su territorio.

The Old Vine Project aims to preserve vines older than 35 years. Winemakers can certify their wines as ‘Old Vine’ and the public are now able to buy wines that are made from the many ancient and sometimes forgotten patches of South African vineyards. Old Vine Heritage Tours offer guests a tailored and informative experience of the Cape's viticulture and wine heritage.

Sarah Jane Evans MW will be blending an exceptional tasting of wines from the Rioja Alavesa region and Txakolí  from Arabako Txakolina (Álava), Getariako Txakolina (Getaria) and Bizkaiko Txakolina (Bilbao) – a fascinating masterclass not to be missed by IWINETC conference delegates. Winemakers from the selected wineries will be on hand for attendees to meet.

Dentro del mundo turístico, seguramente será el sector MICE el que exige un mayor nivel de especialización por parte de los prestatarios. Son muchos los componentes que diferencian este sector del clásico enoturismo vinculado al ocio vacacional. Analizaremos estos factores y expondremos algunos enfoques que pueden ayudarnos en la conversación tanto con clientes de empresa como con los operadores MICE

Grab a coffee, network and connect with colleagues while perusing the grape escape destinations on show in the exhibition area.

If you build it they will come – if they know about it. A key plank in any tourism marketing strategy has to be dealing with media, whether that’s traditional print and broadcast media, or influencers on social media. Felicity Carter will discuss with case studies low- to no-cost ways to get media attention, from crafting a perfect pitch through to leveraging media relationships.

The Strada Reale combines companies in the agri-food, hospitality, tourism and institutional sectors. It offers interesting enogastronomical routes in 4 territories - hills of Turin, Canavese, Val Susa, Pinerolese - with a focus on Ivrea, UNESCO heritage site.

Cooperation is key when it comes to promoting a wine tourism destination be it a region, country or a whole continent. Budaventura Travel, Hungary has developed a platform “Wine Tourism in Europe” which aims to bring European wine tourism providers closer together by offering an innovative forum to create cooperation opportunities. This presentation will of interest to all wine and culture tourism  industry players.

The session is primarily aimed at travel professionals with good wine knowledge including, but not limited to, tour operators and travel agents, as well as wine and/or travel journalists, and, of course, anyone with interest in wine travel. No knowledge of the Tokaj region or its wines is required.

In wine tourism, wineries do not offer simply wine and tasting, they offer a touristic experience. Since hotels or restaurants have standardised criteria and rating, why don't wineries? Why is it important to standardise it across one wine route and how it is done in some regions – case studies of Villany, Hungary and Istria, Croatia.

South African wineries are located in a biodiversity hotspot, the Cape Floral Kingdom, the smallest and richest.  But under threat from agriculture, alien vegetation and human development.  Wineries are looking at minimizing their impact on the environment, conserving water/resources and using eco-awareness as part of their tourism offering.  The South African wine industry was the first to introduce  a sustainability seal, incorporated in the official Certification Seal.  Best practice examples for the presentation will include case studies: Vergelegen, Black Oystercatcher, Spier, La Motte, Boschendal.

Network and connect with fellow wine and culinary tourism professionals over lunch. Enjoy some free time to visit a number of exciting exhibitors.

Following an understanding of the state of Tourism in New Zealand we explore how Wine Tourism fits within this overall strategy as run by the official wine body New Zealand Winegrowers. The background and implementation of the 5 Ps of New Zealand Wine Tourism are explored as well as the opportunity of sustainability.

Nemeais Greece’s most important red wine appellation, Agiogitiko, located in the northeast of the Peloponnese. This area has seen a huge amount of investment and growth in the past few decades. In last January we conducted a qualitative survey to measure how a wine tourism company, Venikos, managed to stimulate the development of wine tourism in this region.

Starting and sustaining a wine tour company has a steep learning curve. While every country has their own rules and regulations, the basics to building and sustaining a wine tour operation are universal. This presentation gets into the nuts and bolts from incorporating to advertising and what you may want to avoid, based on the real-life experience of running a wine tour company.

Creating a unique and distinctive experience around wine culture today is a very complicated task. There are millions of wineries around the world that are seeking to differentiate themselves from their competition. Why not differentiate yourself with a wine tour that is accessible for everybody? True success consists of converting what may have been a problem at first to a refined business opportunity.

Do you think only global tech companies can benefit from data analytics to improve their performance? Think again. This session will showcase real applications of use of data for small and medium players in the wine tourism industry. You will discover how to increase your customer base, beat the competition, set optimal prices and identify upselling opportunities.

IWINETC 2019 round up and a thank you to all sponsors and supporters involved. Welcome to IWINETC 2020 hosts  Assessore al Turismo e Attività produttive: Sergio Emidio Bini and Direttore Generale PromoTurismoFVG: Lucio Gomiero who will deliver a presentation titled:

Friuli Venezia Giulia the place to be!

Extend your IWINETC attendance as a wine tourism experience provider and meet face-to-face with important tour operators and travel agents specialised in wine tourism in a cost and time-effective one day Wine Tourism B2B Workshop format. Register here>>

Cellar door service experiences are the core attraction of wine tourism and the need for outstanding service in a beautiful setting is well recognised in the wine industry. Cellar door service mapping has the potential to generate product loyalty and subsequent wine sales and exports. This presentation will detail the research findings from two Western Australian wine regions.