Last Wednesday, February 3, I participated in the 2nd Annual Edition of the International Congress and Workshop on Wine Tourism which took place at the Barceló Hotel Montserrat, La Beguda Baixa (Barcelona).
The day began with my presentation on the 10 main mistakes that wine companies make when promoting themselves on the Internet. Over the course of the hour and a half of the talk, we reviewed these mistakes and looked at examples of good and bad practices carried out by Spanish wineries.
The presentation can be viewed here:
In the early afternoon, and after attending various activities at the congress, I moderated a round table in which 4 wineries explained their experiences in Wine Tourism.
The wineries that participated in this round table were:
- Cavas Nadal (Penedés)
- Retuerta Abbey (Ribera del Duero)
- Gonzalez Byass (Jerez)
- Vilarnau (Penedés)
As far as I am concerned, this round table was particularly interesting because the wineries explained what wine tourism means to them and what they use it for. The conclusions were as follows:
- Wine tourism is considered by some wineries as another line of business, with its own profit and loss account and budget.
- Wine tourism is considered part of the winery's branding strategy. Promoting the company and serving visitors who come to the winery to learn about it and try its wines is part of its brand strategy.
- Wine tourism is considered a tool for building loyalty among the winery's current customers. Visiting the facilities and participating in the various activities offered by the winery serve to build customer loyalty and develop customers.
In short… a very interesting day, in which we all learned.
