Robin Shaw

Robin is passionate about all things wine and tourism and is widely regarded as Australia’s leading wine tourism development specialist.  Her experience extends across sales, marketing, business development and operational roles with companies such as Pernod Ricard, South Australian Tourism and Winemakers’ Federation of Australia.  Awarded a prestigious Winston Churchill Fellowship in 2004 to study wine tourism innovation, Robin used the information gained to develop a series of workshops and resources which she has successfully delivered in Australia, South Africa and Chile.  Robin’s company, Wine Tourism Australia, works with wineries, tourism operators and regions to maximise their destination appeal and deliver memorable visitor experiences.  She also hosts wine tourism study tours for industry professionals to locations in South Africa and Australia that epitomise best practice and service excellence and develops leisure packages to some of the world’s best wine regions. A dynamic and entertaining presenter, she is regularly engaged as a speaker and facilitator at wine and tourism industry conferences.

Robin is one of our keynote speakers and will be delivering two talks as follows:

Are we there yet? Australia’s Wine Tourism (R)Evolution. (Research)>>

From the days of meat pies and Holden cars, where city folk visited wineries to stock up on bulk wine and top up their port barrels, to the current landscape of sophisticated winery dining and pretty young things in limousines, Australia has journeyed far.  And while domestic visitors are flocking to the nation’s wine regions, the perception of Australia as a genuine culinary tourism destination still raises the eyebrows of many prospective international visitors.  But the cork is well and truly out of the bottle and some savvy marketing campaigns are now shining a very bright light on the nation’s wine tourism offerings – with some startling results.

Beyond the Cellar Door: Creating a Destination in your own right! (Branding & Marketing)>>

It’s no longer good enough to simply hang out a shingle and expect visitors to flock to your door – regardless of your brand’s popularity in the marketplace.  In fact, it is often the brand’s popularity with consumers that has led some of the New World’s best known brands to create all-encompassing visitor destinations and genuine experiences that go well beyond the humble wine tasting.  Using contemporary case studies from Australia and South Africa, find out how modest family brands have truly embraced the ‘wine tourism’ concept to create exceptional businesses.

View the Full Conference Programme here>>