Winerist, the leader in Wine & Food Tourism, conducted a survey with 500+ wineries from around world to assess the state of Wine Tourism at a global level. We also looked at how wineries use Social Media and Online Technology in the 21st century. What are the differences between the Old World and the New World? How can wineries use Wine Tourism & Social Media to increase direct to consumer sales?

1. Best
Prac*ces
in
Wine
&
Food
Tourism
Trends
in
wine
trade,
tourism
and
social
media
around
the
globe
Survey
by
Winerist
Ta*ana
Livesey
@London
Wine
Fair
4th
May
2016

2. Introduc*on
This
survey
was
conducted
on
a
sample
of
500
wineries
located
in
31
countries
around
the
world.
WINERIST’s
scope
was
to
understand
wineries
bePer
and
to
assess
their
needs
in
the
following
areas:
• Wine
tourism
needs
and
expecta*ons
• Wine
sales
from
trade,
via
tourism
ac*vi*es
and
DTC
(direct
to
consumer)
• Business
needs
• Marke*ng
needs
including
Social
Media
presence
and
priori*es
WINERIST
is
an
award
winning
travel
website
connec*ng
a
fast
growing
community
of
200,000
wine
lovers
to
over
2,500
wine
tourism
experiences
in
100
wine
regions.
We
work
directly
with
wineries,
hotels
and
tour
guides
to
deliver
the
best
possible
authen*c
travel
service.
We
are
changing
the
wine
&
tourism
space
for
wineries
in
3
ways:
1. A
simple
online
wine
tourism
service
to
grow
the
number
of
visits
to
the
winery
2. Marke*ng
services
to
enhance
their
Social
Media
presence
and
customer
engagement
pre
and
post
trip
3. Direct
to
consumer
Wine
Sales
so
they
don’t
have
to
rely
on
trade
and
access
the
end
customer
Our
MoPo
is:
“People
drink
stories,
not
wine”

3. 500
wineries
from
around
the
world
have
their
say
UK
1%
Austria
2%
Canada
2%
Portugal
2%
Chile
2%
Germany
3%
South
Africa
4%
Australia
6%
New
Zealand
7%
Spain
9%
France
10%
USA
13%
Italy
29%
Other
10%
Geographical
Split
of
Wineries
3
Wineries
from
Old
World
&
New
World
had
nearly
equal
representaMon
in
the
survey:
• 57%
of
wineries
represent
the
Old
World,
with
Italy
(29%),
France
(10%)
and
Spain
(9%)
• 43%
of
the
wineries
represent
the
New
World,
with
USA
(13%),
New
Zealand
(7%)
and
Australia
(6%)

4. Business
Size
&
Wine
Sales
Channels

5. @thewinerist
What
is
the
size
of
your
business?
Most
winery
business
are
small
opera*ons
with
just
1-­‐5
people
• 53%
of
wineries
are
small
enterprises
of
1-­‐5
people
• <20%
of
wineries
have
more
than
15+
people

6. @thewinerist
Where
do
you
export
your
wines?
One
FIFTH
of
wineries
don’t
export
at
all!
This
proves
that
DTC
&
local
sales
are
important
• ConMnental
Europe
&
USA
are
in
top
2:
with
64%
and
54%
respecMvely
of
producers
exporMng
there
• Over
50%
wineries
are
exporMng
to
Asia
and
consider
it
an
important
new
market
• UK
market
occupies
4th
place
with
45%
producers
exporMng
here
(the
UK
is
more
compeMMve
for
the
wine
trade)
• 22%
of
wineries
don’t
export
at
all!

7. @thewinerist
What
percentage
of
wine
do
you
sell
at
your
cellar
door?
Developing
a
good
‘cellar
door’
experience
is
key
to
selling
more
wine!
• Cellar
door
sales
are
on
the
rise
• 20%
of
wineries
sell
more
than
50%
of
the
wine
at
the
cellar
door
thus
reducing
markeMng
costs
for
trade
shows
etc.
• 55%
of
the
wineries
sell
up
to
20%
of
their
wine
at
the
cellar
door
• Wineries
overall
report
they
want
to
increase
the
porMon
of
cellar
door
and
DTC
wine
sales
showing
need
for
invesMng
in
post-­‐trip
online
ecommerce
soluMons
to
sell
wine

8. @thewinerist
Do
you
ship
wine
DTC
(directly
to
consumers)
from
the
winery?
DTC
is
important!
This
is
in
line
with
89%
of
Wine
Tourists
repor*ng
to
buy
wine
when
and
aher
travelling
• 85%
of
wineries
are
involved
in
shipping
wine
directly
to
consumers
• It’s
important
to
have
a
good
‘cellar
door’
wine
tasMng
experience
–
authenMc,
with
the
winemaker
/owner
if
possible
• This
is
because
“people
drink
stories
NOT
wine”
so
if
they
like
you
they
will
buy
your
wine
too!

9. @thewinerist
Do
you
have
a
wine
club?
Only
37%
of
wineries
offer
a
WINE
CLUB
op*on
• Wine
Clubs
offer
a
good
incen*ve
for
people
to
become
brand
ambassadors,
tell
others
about
your
wine,
come
and
visit
you
• It’s
a
popular
tool
in
the
New
World
wine
countries
• Revenues
from
wine
club
members
are
higher
in
$/€
terms
than
from
the
average
visitor
• Set
up
costs
are
low
but
may
need
to
invest
in
a
POS
/
ecommerce
soluMon

10. Wine
Tourism

11. @thewinerist
How
important
is
food
and
wine
tourism
to
your
business?
• 90%
of
wineries
globally
say
Wine
&
Food
Tourism
is
important
for
their
business
• 30%
offer
accommoda*on/
a
restaurant
service
to
create
the
full
hospitality
experience

12. @thewinerist
How
many
wine
tourists
and
visitors
do
you
receive
each
year?
95%
of
wineries
receive
wine
tourists!
• 43%
say
that
they
receive
less
than
500
visitors
>
HUGE
opportunity
to
grow
the
business
subject
to
resources
and
facili*es
• A
small
winery
should
target
to
receive
between
500-­‐5000
tourists
a
year
• Some
wineries
receive
over
200,000
visitors
a
year!
• Only
5%
of
wineries
receive
no
visitors
at
all
>
shows
interest
from
consumers

13. @thewinerist
What
type
of
tas*ng
experiences
do
you
offer?
Most
wineries
offer
a
combina*on
of
experience
but
should
focus
on
those
that
bring
MOST
SALES
• Most
popular
wine
tourist
experience
is
the
“informal
standing
&
tas*ng”
with
75%
of
wineries
offering
it
with
the
rest:
• Sit-­‐down
tasMngs
(67%)
• Guided
tours
of
vineyards
(71%)
• Meet
the
winemakers
(66%)
• Food
&
wine
pairings
(49%)
• Another
study
found
that
seated
tas*ngs
generate
at
least
a
21.8%
greater
average
purchase
per
visitor

14. @thewinerist
Who
conducts
the
tas*ngs
at
your
winery?
Where
possible
the
winemaker
/
winery
owner
should
do
the
wine
tas*ng
visits
• Wine
tourists
like
to
hear
about
stories
and
feel
the
passion
about
the
wine
directly
from
the
winemaker
(22%)
/
wine
owner
(44%)
• This
leads
to
increased
wine
sales
post
results
and
turns
many
of
these
visitors
into
“brand
ambassadors”
• Many
wineries
report
lack
of
trained
/
permanent
staff
as
an
issue
• To
create
an
amazing
service,
wineries
need
to
invest
in
their
human
resources
• Find
people
with
the
‘hospitality
gene’
–
with
a
smile
on
the
face,
ability
to
listen,
to
be
curious,
empha*c
and
be
ready
to
go
the
extra
mile
• Think
about
when
you
hire
the
face
of
the
business,
will
they
be
able
to
tell
your
winery’s
story
as
passionately?

15. @thewinerist
How
much
do
you
charge
for
tas*ng
visits?
23%
of
wineries
charge
NOTHING
for
tas*ngs
BUT
this
is
to
be
avoided!
• The
sweetspot
for
a
wine
a
wine
tasMng
of
usually
min
3
wines
lasMng
min
30
minutes
is
€5-­‐€20
(37%
of
wineries)
• 23%
of
wineries
report
offering
FREE
wine
tasMngs
• While
this
seems
like
a
good
idea
to
encourage
people
to
come
it
doesn’t
actually
work
that
well
• Tourists
(especially
Interna*onal
tourists)
expect
to
pay
for
service!
• TIP:
charge
for
the
tas*ngs
and
deduct
the
fee
if
they
purchase
wine!

16. @thewinerist
How
important
are
the
following
methods
of
booking
winery
visits?
1
=
most
important
>
Email
&
phone
unfortunately
s*ll
common
place
when
taking
reserva*ons
for
visits
• Unfortunately
when
it
comes
to
technology
and
online
bookings
–
wineries
are
not
so
advanced!
• 62%
of
suppliers
don’t
have
a
booking
calendar
• 17%
use
online
tools;
34%
use
email
and
39%
use
phone
for
bookings
• This
demonstrates
that
there
is
room
for
improvement!
With
simple
online
booking
calendars,
Point-­‐of-­‐Sale
tools
–
wineries
can
minimise
their
workload
by
taking
reservaMons
online
with
tool
such
as
Winerist
for
example
<Most
important
<Least
important

17. @thewinerist
How
important
are
the
following
for
sales
conversion
during
a
winery
visit?
It’s
all
about
WINE
SALES!
• Selling
wine
is
the
number
one
priority
of
most
wineries
(68%
agree)
• The
tasMng
fee
is
2nd
in
place
with
14%
agreeing
it’s
most
important
for
sales
• Winery
merchandise
is
in
3rd
place
with
12%
agreeing
it’s
most
important
for
sales
• Restaurant
onsite
and
food
sales
is
least
important
mainly
because
47%
of
wineries
do
not
offer
this
service.
For
those
that
do
a
restaurant
is
2nd
most
important
source
of
sales
with
17%
thinking
so.
<Least
important
<Most
important

18. @thewinerist
Do
you
offer
any
addi*onal
incen*ves
at
tas*ngs?
The
MOST
effec*ve
incen*ve
at
the
cellar
door
is
to
offer
the
tas*ng
free
with
wine
boPle
purchases
• 45%
of
wineries
offer
free
tas*ng
or
refund
the
fee
with
boPle
purchase
• This
is
a
good
strategy
to
get
client’s
details
/
email
to
retarget
later
as
many
repurchase
/
order
online
• Free
tasMng
with
club
membership:
17%
• Discount
on
winery
tours:
16%
(not
worth
discounMng
a
€5-­‐20
tasMng)
• Coupon
for
future
winery
visits:
11%
• 42%
offer
NO
incen*ves

19. Ques*ons
about
Social
Media
&
Marke*ng
Ac*vi*es

20. @thewinerist
How
important
is
Social
Media
to
your
business
as
a
marke*ng
tool?
22%
of
wineries
think
that
Social
Media
is
not
an
important
marke*ng
tool!
• FACT:
1
in
5
wineries
are
agnos*c
to
Social
Media.
This
is
not
suprising
but
a
concern!
• 35%
of
customers
use
Social
media
for
reccomenda*ons
on
travel
&
wine
• Social
Media
is
an
effec*ve
and
rela*vely
cheap
way
to
promote
your
business
online
with
the
power
of
story
telling
and
images!
• It’s
a
powerful
tool
to
engage
in
a
conversa*on
with
your
exis*ng
fans
but
also
aPract
new
ones
and
get
their
feedback
• But
it
has
to
be
done
WELL!

21. @thewinerist
What Social Media platforms do you use for business?
Most
wineries
have
a
good
mix
of
Social
Media
representa*on
1. Facebook
is
the
most
popular
channel
with
91%
present
2. Twimer:
52%
3. Instagram:
40%
4. Linkedin:
27%
5. Youtube:
25%
6. Google+:
24%
7. Pinterest:
15%
8. None
of
the
above:
7%
Images
(good
ones!)
are
MORE
important
than
text
&
video
to
aPract
the
customer’s
aPen*on
and
easy
to
upload
on
facebook,
instagram,
twiPer.

22. @thewinerist
How
ohen
do
you
post
on
Social
Media?
Most
wineries
do
not
have
sufficient
*me
to
engage
with
users
on
Social
Media
• 43%
of
wineries
only
post
2-­‐3
*mes
a
week
on
social
channels
• 14%
post
every
day
• 23%
post
2
Mmes
a
month
• 11%
post
once
a
month
• 8%
do
not
post
/
use
social
media
• To
be
successful
on
Social
Media
it
is
recommended
to
post
almost
every
day
and
not
just
once
a
day
on
TwiPer;
every
other
day
on
facebook
&
instagram.

23. @thewinerist
How
do
you
engage
with
customers
during
or
aher
their
visit?
1
in
5
wineries
does
not
do
any
post
visit
customer
engagement
thus
missing
opportunity
to
upsell
• 62%
of
wineries
report
sending
newslemers
to
their
visitors
–
the
%
seems
quite
high
so
we
assume
campaign
frequency
is
low
• 52%
ask
visitors
to
follow
them
on
social
media
sites
–
unless
clients
do
it
on
the
spot
they
may
never
do
it
• 20%
of
wineries
do
not
engage
with
customers
post
visit
>
huge
opportunity
to
improve
and
invest
in
a
POS
solu*on!

24. @thewinerist
Do
you
have
a
blog?
80%
of
wineries
don’t
have
a
blog!
• A
Blog
is
a
great
way
to
tell
your
customers
and
fans
what
is
happening
in
the
vineyard,
how
is
the
vintage
progressing,
the
harvest
and
tasMng
notes
from
new
vintages
• It
takes
Mme
to
write
and
upload
online
but
you
can
do
it
once
a
month/
every
3
months
• People
love
stories!

25. @thewinerist
What
type
of
adver*sing
do
you
do?
100%
of
wineries
engage
in
adver*sing
ac*vi*es!
• ALL
wineries
do
some
paid
marke*ng
• Online:
69%
• Print:
42%
• Trade:
33%
• Events:
71%
• Online
&
events
prove
to
be
the
most
popular
and
cost
effec*ve
channels
of
adver*sing

26. @thewinerist
What
are
the
key
areas
you
need
help
as
a
business?
Trade,
tourism
and
selling
more
wine
online….
• Finding
a
distributor
/
entering
a
new
market
is
s*ll
the
biggest
pain
&
goal
for
62%
of
the
wineries
• 52%
want
to
get
more
internaMonal
wine
tourists
to
the
winery
• 38%
want
to
sell
more
wine
online
• 37%
want
to
develop
a
social
media
&
online
markeMng
strategy
• 31%
branding
and
markeMng
• 24%
website
update
• 18%
POS
and
booking
soluMons
• 15%
training
staff
• Aher
TRADE,
tourism
and
online
marke*ng
strategies
are
key
priori*es

27. CONCLUSIONS!

28. @thewinerist
Conclusive
Remarks
1. Wine
Tourism
ac*vi*es
are
an
extra
source
of
revenue
&
brand
enhancement
for
90%
of
wineries
2. To
improve
or
start
Wine
Tourism
ac*vi*es
focus
on
providing
a
good
experience
and
“tapping
into
one’s
dreams”
– This
can
be
achieved
by
spending
*me
with
clients,
from
mee*ng
the
winemakers,
to
differen*a*ng
your
tas*ng
room
with
personalised
touches
and
offering
exclusive
perks
for
people
to
come
back
/
buy
wine
3. Charge
for
your
tas*ngs
and
provide
incen*ves
for
clients
to
buy
wine
4. Use
Wine
Tourism
to
your
advantage
-­‐
increase
the
Direct
to
Consumer
Wine
Sales
&
Wine
Club
5. Make
it
EASY
for
clients
to
find
you
online,
to
book
&
be
‘social’
on
Social
Media!

29. @thewinerist
Winerist
Contacts
Want
to
know
more
about
the
Survey
or
about
our
Wine
Tourism
and
DTC
wine
services?
Get
in
touch!
www.winerist.com
ta*ana@winerist.com
+44
20
7096
1006