On 20 November 2018, the first wine tourism conference was held at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.
The aim of this event was to highlight the essential actions to be taken to increase the development of wine tourism and its influence.
The 20 measures that have been selected are (source: https://www.tourmag.com/Assises-de-l-oenotourisme-quelles-sont-les-20-mesures-qui-vont-booster-la-filiere_a96164.html):
1. To give France world leadership in the hierarchisation, segmentation and legibility of the wine tourism offer with the launch of an experimental approach based on a classification of wine tourism experiences in close collaboration with professionals, while continuing to improve the quality of the French wine tourism offer by strengthening the requirements of the Vignobles & Découvertes label.
2. To enable destinations with the Vignobles & Découvertes label to take control of the national coordination of the network and to build their own promotional strategy with the creation of a federation of destinations with the Vignobles & Découvertes label.
3. Create a Chair in Wine Tourism in conjunction with a French university or higher professional training establishment and the establishment of a college of wine tourism training courses, in order to ensure that the training on offer meets the needs of the profession.
4. Create a MOOC (online training catalogue) dedicated to wine tourism and update the very popular "Guide de l'accueil en caves" produced by Atout France.
5. Integrate the notion of "responsible wine festivals" defined by Vin & Société into the Vignobles & Découvertes label. Eventually, the Vignobles & Découvertes label, as a tool for referencing the French wine tourism offer, should make it possible to label all responsible wine festivals, regardless of whether or not they are attached to a destination.
6. In consultation with the competent authorities, work towards defining the concept of tourist harvests in order to reassure wine tourism providers who would like to develop this activity, which is in great demand by tourists, but who fear that this practice will be assimilated to irregular work.
7. Promote the compatibility of accessibility standards with the historical architecture of cellars and tasting rooms that wish to open to visitors. The possibility of facilitating derogations in specific cases should be studied.
8. Encourage the competent authorities to consider the conditions for the construction of tourist buildings on agricultural land.
9. Include wine tourism in major public surveys (INSEE, EVE) and take into account the revenue generated by the sale of wine to tourists on site in the tourism accounts.
10. Provide the sector with a real capacity for observation and economic intelligence by establishing a network of partners capable of carrying out a long-term observation process.
11. Carry out a study of the expectations of foreign customers, of distribution in the markets and of the key factors for success in wine tourism.
12. Encourage inclusive and collaborative governance by supporting the initiatives of theAtout France Wine Tourism Cluster, the Conseil Supérieur de l'Oenotourisme and the federation of destinations with the Vignobles & Découvertes label.
13. Develop synergies between wine tourism and neighbouring sectors such asspirit tourism and brewery tourism by creating a working group including representatives of these sectors.
14. Create a "wine tourism" programme within the CNIV, in partnership with Atout France, to encourage synergies in the organisation of events to promote France on foreign markets and to support interprofessional export activities.
15. Coordinate a major wine tourism event on a national scale by bringing together the initiatives developed within the framework of the Vignobles & Découvertes label.
16. Launch the French Wine Tourism Awards, in partnership with the magazine Terre de Vins and Atout France, in order to promote and encourage wine estates and châteaux that work hard on a daily basis to put in place strong wine tourism proposals that are adapted to the demands of customers, particularly in properties with the Vignobles & Découvertes label.
17. Encourage the digitisation of companies in the sector in conjunction with BpiFrance.
18. Set up a framework agreement with the major French hotel chains to enable them to integrate wine tourism as an essential part of their offer.
19. Set up an agreement combining culture and wine tourism in order to encourage the development of the wine and cultural heritage of each destination, in particular by allowing the major cultural sites to offer tastings.
20. Boost distribution by encouraging the major players in tourist distribution to integrate wine tourism more into their offer.
Discover the key figures for wine tourism:
