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premios apeno 2023 hospitalidade e estadia

GWTO supports APENO in its National Wine Tourism Awards 2023

The ceremony of the second edition of the APENO (Portuguese Winetourism
Association) / Ageas Seguros National Wine Tourism Award took place on the 26th
of May, at the Hotel Convento de São Paulo, in Redondo (Alentejo).
An event that distinguished the best wine tourism companies, practices and projects in Portugal, with Ageas Seguros as main sponsor, through a transparent vote carried out on an online platform by more than 250 judges.

The President of the Republic of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, appreciated the participation of the Minister of Agriculture and the support of the President of the Global Wine Tourism Organization GWTO, highlighted Portuguese tourism and wines, recognized as among the world’s best, wishing APENO the greatest successes.

“Hospitality and Accommodation are the Alpha and the Omega of service excellence” José Antonio Vidal, President of GWTO

During the event, presented by Mónica Jardim, the GWTO President participated in the Awards ceremony for Best Hospitality (Herdade da Malhadinha Nova) and Best Accommodation (Torre de Palma Wine Hotel). In the words of José Antonio Vidal “Hospitality and Accommodation are the Alpha and Omega of service excellence: the keys to success or failure”.

The event was attended by several official entities, including the Secretaries of State for Tourism, Nuno Fazenda, and Agriculture, Gonçalo Rodrigues; the President of the Vine and Wine Institute, Bernardo Gouvêa; the President of the Regional Tourism Authority of Alentejo, Vitor Silva; the Presidents and/or representatives of the National CVR’s and Regional Tourism Entities; as well as José Antonio Vidal, President of the Global Wine Tourism Organization GWTO, the organization that represents Wine Tourism worldwide: “It was a pleasure getting Portugal to attend the Awards. GWTO supports the labour of APENO in Portugal and I believe it is already bearing fruit. Congratulations APENO and to all winners and finalists!”.

“APENO is growing every day and making an important progress in structuring the sector. Bringing together the world of wine and tourism at this exceptional event that rewards the best in wine tourism makes us feel delighted. The event was different, creative, full of glamour, surprises and details. In what depends on us. And always be this way!”, Maria João de Almeida, APENO President.

1st wine tourism forum in abrau durso

1st EnoTourism Forum in Abrau-Durso (Krasnodar, Russia)

The 1st EnoTourism Forum, the largest wine tourism industry event in Russia, took place in Abrau-Durso on May 12 and 13. It was promoted and organized by the Abrau-Durso Tourism Centre with the support of the Global Wine Tourism Organization (GWTO) and the International Center for Wine and Gastronomy (ICWAG), bringing together more than 400 professionals from 11 countries.

Abrau-Durso owner and Forum promoter Boris Titov commented on his company’s position as the largest enotourism centre, “Abrau is a notable player in this segment in Russia and even in the world. But we will also stop developing if there are not many small and medium sized signature, boutique designed wineries. Enotourists don’t go to a wine region to visit one winery, they are interested in exploring the whole wine province”.

GWTO President José Antonio Vidal gave an overview of current trends enotourism at a new level, praised “the potential of enotourism both in the world and in Russia”, and called it the “industry of happiness: tourism, gastronomy, culture and leisure. GWTO welcomes all stakeholders in the development of enotourism: governmental and public bodies, wine producers, tourism companies, industry associations and academia”.

Leonid Gelibterman, GWTO Vice President for Eurasia: “Based on its own history and following the trends of the modern world, Russian enotourism can successfully compete on the international market and develop an (eno)gastronomic culture in Russian society.

The participants of the Forum discussed the development of enotourism in the Russian wine regions, described the main problems and possible solutions. It was, in particular, promotion and commercialization (through GWTO MICE events and EnoWineClub reservations platform), International Quality Certificate on customer experience (by GWTO Q seal), training of qualified personnel and wine tourism guides (GWTO Academy), creation of a unified map of wine routes (GWTO Advisors), improvement of legislation, economic efficiency and accessibility of transport.

Leonid Popovich, GWTO Director for Russia, stressed the particular importance of the cooperation of market players: only together will it be possible to achieve positive changes.

Within the framework of the Forum, an important event for national enotourism took place: the first three Russian wineries were awarded certificates of membership in the Global Wine Tourism Organization: Abrau-Durso, Château de Talu and WinePark received their certificates.

wine tourism forum abrau durso

Joining the international organization will provide opportunities for exchange of experiences, training with GWTO Academy, hosting events, international wine tourism quality certification, participating in the global wine tourism booking platform and advice on creating national and regional enotourism associations.

GWTO Vice President for Latin America, Pablo Singerman, gave an overview of the state of enotourism in different countries of the region. He drew attention to an important point: an “oenological” tourist spends on average 56% more than a regular tourist.

Sergei Danilov, Director of GWTO in Uzbekistan, spoke about the connection of enotourism with gastronomy, as well as with the history and culture of individual countries and regions.

A real eye-opener for many forum participants was the speech by GWTO China Director Jiawei Jiang on the impressive pace of development of oenology and enotourism in China where GWTO President will participate in the Yantai International Expo on June 16 and 17.

Ceylan Sensoy, Marketing Director of the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, spoke about her country’s emerging enotourism regions.

I GWTO Global Summit to be held in Uruguay

Arnaldo Nardone, GWTO MICE Director, presented the 1st GWTO Global Summit on EnoTourism to be held in Spring 2024 in Punta del Este (Uruguay).

“Uruguay is honoured to host the first GWTO Global Summit next year. We are very grateful that our country has been chosen to host it -said Daniel Rubén Castillos, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay to the Russian Federation.

Personnel make the difference

A panel was dedicated to the topic of Training and Talent in the field of enotourism. Moderated by Elena Didenko, director of the GWTO Academy in Russia, Russian experts together with the directors of the GWTO Academy in Portugal and Chile, Bebiana Monteiro and Jorge Espinosa, respectively, addressed the lack of qualified personnel.

“Every employee who meets a tourist must be highly professional. In entourism specially, a guide must not only be an excellent communicator, but also capable of transmitting emotions,” José Antonio Vidal stressed.

It is envisaged that the EnoTourism Forum will become an annual meeting place for wine tourism industry professionals in Russia and other countries.

Recognition in Mexico for Global Wine Tourism Organization

New international trends to take tourism to the next level

Hosted by the Secretariat of Tourism of the State of Queretaro, international tourism experts met on April 27 at the Santiago de Querétaro Congress Center (Mexico) to discuss new challenges, opportunities, trends and their social impact on destinations, under the slogan “New international trends to take tourism to the next level”.

José Antonio Vidal (Founder President of the Global and Spanish Wine Tourism Organizations), began his speech by clarifying “basic concepts with the aim of speaking the same ‘wine tourism language’, indicating what is not wine tourism -only visiting wineries-, and what it is: Wine Tourism is agri tourism in wine regions, knowing all resources present in wine destinations. In fact, Wine Tourism is the driving force behind Agri tourism”.

The president of GWTO continued his speech by pointing out that “Wine tourism is Tourism (it is neither oenology nor viticulture), stressing the importance that both winery entrepreneurs (investing in professionals in the tourism sector) and public administrations must understand it in this way, and that they must also focus on the types of events they sponsor when it comes to promoting tourism (Wine Tourism): our events -congresses, exhibitions, etc.- are events of, by and for wine tourism (we are Tourism), and not only for the wine industry sector (which we will obviously also support, contributing our collaboration in them when requested)”.

“Professionalization through GWTO Academy, Promotion with GWTO MICE and Marketing through the GWTO Marketplace, strategic axes for Next Level Wine Tourism,” concluded Vidal.

The Forum was also attended by Óscar Rueda (Director of the Executive Presidency of the CAF Development Bank for Latin America), Amora Carbajal (executive president of PromPeru), Maximiliano Mauvecín (secretary general of the South American Tourism Federation), José Carlos de Santiago (president and founder of the Excelencias Group), Juan Francisco Maqueda (founder of the integrated marketing agency LatamOne), Inmaculada Benito (director of the Tourism, Culture and Sports Department of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations), Antonio Roldán (professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Dresden –Germany- and International Tourism Advisor), José Ramón Bauzá (member of the European Parliament; spokesman for Renew Europe in the Committee on Transport and Tourism of the European Parliament), and Mohamed Taleb (United Nations expert on Tourism and Territorial Development).

The day ended with the launching of the Querétaro Wine Cluster, in which José Antonio Vidal intervened, together with the Governor and the Secretary of Tourism of the State of Querétaro -Mauricio Kuri and Mariela Morán-, celebrating that “Querétaro’s associationism is an example of how to do things well in terms of coopetitiveness, solidly cementing the bases of its strategic sectors. In this sense, from GWTO we empower the National Wine Tourism Associations, being key in the World Wine Tourism Council”.

The Global Wine Tourism Organization (GWTO) is the network of agri-tourism entrepreneurship and knowledge, made up of private companies located in wine-growing environments, as well as public and academic entities (World Wine Tourism Council), with the objective of contributing to the socio-economic development of destinations and their residents, in accordance with value proposals aligned with the United Nations.

The Russian National Culinary Association joins Global Wine Tourism Organization

The Russian National Culinary Association joins GWTO

The Russian National Culinary Association (RNCA) became the first Full Member in Russia of the Global Wine Tourism Organization (RNCA). The accession agreement was signed by their presidents Mr. José Antonio Vidal and Mr. Victor Belyaev.

Founded in 1990, RNCA is the most distinguished professional associations in the country joinning chefs, cooks, and industry organizations from various regions of Russian Federation, representing Russia in the World Association of Chef’s Societies ‘Worldchefs’ (WACS).

Mr. José Antonio Vidal and Mr. Victor Belyaev

The first meeting between both presidents took place in Perm (Russia) with the occasion of the National Culinary Art and Service Olympiad ‘Legend’ with the mediation of GWTO Vice President for EurAsia, Mr. Leonid Gelibterman.

Wine tourism is inextricably linked to gastronomy, and this agreement between GWTO and RNCA opens up new opportunities and prospects for the development of enogastronomic tourism in Russia.

About GWTO

A Global wine, agri and gastro Tourism Business and Knowledge Network, comprising the whole agritourism value chain located in wine destinations -related to ‘wine’ in its broader sense-, the public sector and the academic by GWTO Academy. GWTO has been created to enhance the social-economic development of wine tourism destinations and its residents through strategic value propositions, as part of an inclusive and supportive governance framework, based on the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals.

For more info:
Julia Smirnova
[email protected]

The longest route in the world: Global Wine Tourism Organization

The world’s longest wine tourist route

Wine tourism in its purest form

Argentina’s Inprotur, Chile’s Sernatur and the Global Wine Tourism Organization (GWTO) promote, support and publicize the creation of The World’s Longest Wine Tourist Route (1,300 km of wine culture), favouring the twinning between the Chilean and Argentinian Regions of Coquimbo, San Juan, La Rioja, Catamarca and Santiago del Estero.

Argentina and Chile, as wine tourism destinations, feature over 250 and 130 wineries that receive visitors, respectively.

The Tourist Route re-enacts the journey made by conquistadors and missionaries, who, after founding La Serena -the first coastal city in Chile- projected the bi-oceanic union and crossed the Andes to establish the oldest settlement in Argentina, Santiago del Estero. Subsequently, they would use the same road to introduce the first grapevine stumps, hence consolidating the base for the wine culture in both countries and in all of the Southern Cone between 1553 and 1556 (Source: Orígenes).

During the project’s presentation within the cycles The Journeys of the Vine and the Wine, the President of the GWTO, José Antonio Vidal, pointed out that “this initiative qualifies as what GWTO defines as a Tourist Route (since it includes more than one country), it boosts public and private collaboration and regards coopetitivity, academic investigation, innovation and sustainability as its essential core. From GWTO, we encourage every country to assist this type of initiatives.

The president of the GWTO carried on stating that “in these current particularly difficult times, it is necessary to redefine concepts in regards to Tourism and Wine Tourism, aimed at satisfying the new demands marked by the sanitation safety:

  1. Public-private, public-public and private-private cooperation is more essential than ever, and
  2. Companies that have not done it yet, must redefine themselves towards an inclusive and sustainable approach.
  3. We all have to work on our reliability in orderto maintain ourselves within the buying decision scope of consumers.

There is a wide opportunity window linked to the pluses that a comprehensive and transversal sector such as Wine Tourism offers. It implies innovative strategies, and this Tourist Route includes them.

In the face of the current complex situation, if the aim is ensuring Wine Tourism in the markets by developing the socio-economical environment at destinations, ADDING to the effort is necessary, nurturing the commitment to unity.

Entrepreneurs must work on their individual and creative projects, but while being aware of the fact that they also have to work together within their sector in order to strengthen the unique qualities of their destinations.

Coopetitivity (competing with a cooperative spirit) will teach us how to adapt ourselves to the new situation: let us become the BIG FAMILY OF THE GLOBAL WINE TOURISM, all agents working united and co-ordinately as in the GWTO.

No wine tourist experience -and, practically, any other- can be understood without its complementary gastronomy as an instrument for the social and local development

Wine Tourism sector has to incorporate it into its offer, not only as part of the integrated service, but during the wine tasting at the wineries, harmonizing them with simple gastronomic Km 0 proposals. 

At GWTO we consider that the time is ideal to take actions towards broadening up the horizons of a responsible, supportive and sustainable global Wine Tourism.

The leadership in sustainability takes in an inclusive and supportive Governance Model that gives prominence to ‘Knowledge Management’ applied to the Investigation for the Training in Sustainability via GWTO Academy, which acts as the headquarters and the voice of the Wine Tourism know-how. It features 50 authorities from the most prestigious universities and Business Schools in 24 countries, specialized in the investigation of Tourist Intelligence, in Wine Tourism Management, Gastronomic Tourism and leading the education in Agricultural and Wine tourism.

Because of and for this purpose, the GWTO has been created: probably the most inclusive and supportive touristic project that has ever been proposed”.

Global Wine Tourism Organization invited to the 1st Wine Tourism National Conference of Argentina

GWTO invited to the 1st Wine Tourism National Conference of Argentina

The president of GWTO, José Antonio Vidal, joined the celebration of the Argentine Wine Day as a national drink, congratulating the Ministry of Tourism of the Nation and that of San Juan, for the organization of the 1st National Wine Tourism Conference, to whose authorities he extended his greetings -the Minister of Tourism Matías Lammens, Yanina Martínez, Ricardo Sosa and Pablo Sismanian, with whom he met at Fitur 2020 (Madrid)-, as well as to his colleagues in the GWTO team, who also had outstanding interventions during the days:

  • Pablo Singerman, Vice President of GWTO for the Americas and as Director of GWTO’s World Economic Monitor for Wine Tourism,
  • Javier Espina and Rodrigo Lemos, GWTO Ambassadors for Argentina
  • Romanella Paggi, National Director, and
  • Oscar Bustos, developer of the GWTO Guarantee Certificate for Wine Tourism Experiences project.

A ‘National Wine Tourism Conference’, Vidal pointed out, “which from GWTO we consider necessary to design the master lines of the strategy for our sector in the new post-Covid era, and appropriate due to the circumstances, that the 1st winery GWTO Member in the world has been ‘Finca María del Pilar‘, in Santiago del Estero, and the 1st Winery Corporation GWTO Full Member in the world has also been the Argentine ‘COVIAR‘”.

Participating institutional authorities:

Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Nation:

  • Yanina Martínez, Secretary of Tourism Promotion
  • Sergio Castro, National Director of Planning and Development
  • Hernán Roitman, National Director of Tourism Quality
  • Ricardo Sosa, Executive Secretary of the National Institute for Tourism Promotion
  • Pablo Sismanian, Director of Tourism Products of the National Institute for Tourism Promotion

Provincial Ministries of Tourism:

  • Claudia Grynszpan, Minister of Tourism and Culture of San Juan
    • Martina Canales, Director of Tourism Products of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture of San Juan
  • Mario Peña, Minister of Tourism and Sports of Salta
  • Germán Bakker, Undersecretary of Tourism of the Ministry of Tourism of Neuquén
  • Sandra Nazar, Provincial Director of Tourism of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Jujuy

Participating institutional authorities:

Federal Tourism Council:

  • Claudia Grynszpan, President
  • Javier Espina, Director

Argentine Wine Corporation (COVIAR):

  • Pablo Asens, Vice President

About GWTO

A Global wine, agri and gastro Tourism Business and Knowledge Network, comprising the whole agritourism value chain located in wine destinations -related to ‘wine’ in its broader sense-, the public sector and the academic by GWTO Academy. GWTO has been created to enhance the social-economic development of wine tourism destinations and its residents through strategic value propositions, as part of an inclusive and supportive governance framework, based on the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals.

More information:
[email protected]
www.gwto.org
Follow us on Twitter: @gwto_omet  @gwto_academy @gwto_latam 
And on Instagram: @gwto_latam

Global Wine Tourism Organization invited to the International Wine Culture and Tourism Festival in China

GWTO invited to the International Wine Culture and Tourism Festival in China

On 26 September, the launch ceremony of the China (Ningxia) International Wine Culture and Tourism Festival, with the theme of “Meet Ningxia Chuan – Taste Helan Mountain”, was held in He Dong Wine Town, Shizuishan City, Ningxia. The conference aims to provide the biggest stage, the best booth and the best platform for the exchange and cooperation of the wine culture and tourism sector at home and abroad. 

Representatives of the Global Wine Tourism Organization (GWTO) in China, relevant ministries and commissions, provincial and regional cultural and tourism departments, experts from the wine, culture and tourism industries at home and abroad, and representatives of private companies witnessed the awards ceremony of Ningxia as a “global wine tourism destination”.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out during his visit to Ningxia that the Ningxia wine industry is a microcosm of the development of China’s wine industry and it will be a world beater. Ningxia has a long history of grape growing and is renowned for its wine. The eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains are recognised as a prime wine grape production zone, with sufficient light, little precipitation, large temperature differences and low humidity, and the excellent terroir and climate have created the unique qualities of Ningxia wine, including sweetness and balance, rich aroma and a long aftertaste. 

In his speech, Lai Jiao said that the Party Committee and the government of the autonomous region have implemented the new development concept and included both wine and cultural tourism in the nine key industries of the autonomous region, as an important grasp of the initiative to integrate into the new development pattern, focusing on promoting the integrated high-quality development of wine and cultural tourism and accelerating the construction of wine tourism destinations. Relying on cultural and tourism resources, we will cultivate a new connotation of wine culture, tell the story of wine, disseminate the terroir culture of the region, “shape” and “give soul” to wine, so that wine will not only have a single look but many aspects that go beyond the wine. 

GWTO Founder President and CEO, José Antonio Vidal stated, “Innovation is the bridge to the future of Wine Tourism and the challenge is to achieve joint action from all the wine tourism stakeholders who share the goal of world leadership in this important sector as wine tourism is. For the Province of Ningxia, the objective should be promoting the international recognition of Ningxia Brand as a world-class wine tourism destination, by positioning Ningxia wine-agri-tourism destinations in global markets, through their presence in all the events (domestic and international) organized by GWTO or in which GWTO participates. In this sense I extend a formal invitation to Ningxia to participate in the GWTOtalks to discuss “hot topics” on wine tourism, matching governments and private sector. Recently, the Minister of Tourism and Sports of Argentina, the Director General of Tourism Policy of Greece, the President of Tourism of Portugal and the Vice-minister of Tourism of Uruguay participated in different sessions and we had great outcomes”.

GWTO Senior Advisor Carlos Vogeler said in his online speech that the Global Wine Tourism Organization highly recommended Ningxia as a quality wine tourism destination and that Ningxia’s initiatives to promote the integration of the cultural and tourism industries have contributed to the wine industry becoming an important pillar in attracting tourists, contributing to the development of wine tourism and making China one of the most attractive upcoming destinations for wine travel experiences in the international market.

During the China (Ningxia) International Wine Culture and Tourism Festival, a series of cultural and tourism events were held, including the Wine Tourism Destination Industry Integration Development Forum, the Winery Leisure Tourism Promotion Conference, the promotion of wine culture and tourism resources in the eastern Helan Mountains.

ABOUT GWTO

Global network of entrepreneurship and knowledge, made up of entities from the entire agritourism value chain (public, private located in wine destinations and academic sectors), understanding the term ‘wine’ in its broadest sense, with the aim of contributing to social development -economic of the destinations and their residents, in accordance with value proposals demanded by their associates and aligned with the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism and with the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda, both from the United Nations.

More information: [email protected]
Follow us on Twitter: @gwto_omet  @gwto_academy

GWTO invited by Russian authorities

The president CEO of the Global Wine Tourism Organization (GWTO) José Antonio Vidal, got Russia despite all the difficulties of traveling during the pandemic. The main purpose of his visit was to hold meetings with representatives of the russian public, private and academic sectors.

Mr. Vidal’s trip started in the city of Perm (Ural region), where he participated in the Russian Culinary and Services Olympiad «Legend». Chefs from all over Russia, including regions with great potential for the development of wine tourism, took part in the Culinary Olympiad.

The opening ceremony was attended by Governor of Perm Krai,Dmitry Makhonin, the president of the National Culinary Association of Russia, Victor Belyaev, and Leonid Gelibterman, GWTO Director for Central EurAsia region and president of the russian International Center of Wine and Gastronomy. In the opening ceremony, José Antonio Vidal said: “On behalf of the GWTO I congratulate all participants and organizers of the Olympiad and wish success to the National Culinary Association of Russia. I bring you also greetings and best wishes from Rafael Ansón, Honorary President of the GWTO and President of Honor of the International Academy of Gastronomy”.

Together with Yulia Vetoshkina, Minister of Tourism and Youth Policy of the Perm Krai, and Yulia Rybakova, Adviser to the Head of the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism (Rostourism), José Antonio Vidal took part in the panel discussion ‘Development of gastronomic tourism in Russia’, moderated by Leonid Gelibterman, in which Mr. Vidal stressed that “wine tourism -matching with gastronomy proposals- is the real motor for agritourism destinations”, offering GWTO support for its socio-economic development.

José Antonio Vidal gave as well a master class about wine tourism for professors and students of the Higher School of Economics, one of the leading universities in Russia with campus in Perm, Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

GWTO president had a useful and important meeting with the Minister of Tourism and Youth Policy of the Perm Krai, Yulia Vetoshkina, who appreciated the potential of cooperation with the GWTO for the development of agritourism in the Perm Region, planning to include in the next meeting the Ministers of Culture and Agriculture, as well as the academic sector of Perm. As a joke -but, as we know, every joke has its share of truth-, Ms. Vetoshkina suggested opening a GWTO office in Perm.

In Moscow, José Antonio Vidal held four important negotiations with the main national stakeholders.

The president of the Union of Winegrowers and Winemakers of Russia,Leonid Popovich, who said: “We discussed the benefits of GWTO membership for producers who are members of the Union of Winegrowers and Winemakers of Russia”. Mr. Popovich described the possibilities of cooperation as fantastic: “We also discussed the prospects of cooperation between the GWTO Academy and Russian universities because the Union of Winegrowers and Winemakers is interested in increasing the professional level of the industry participants”. 

From the Government of the Russian Federation, the Adviser to the Head of the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism (Rostourism), Yulia Rybakova, will organize meetings among GWTO with the Ministers of Tourism of the Russian wine regions.

From the academic side, the Rector of the Moscow State University of Tourism and Sports, Masyagina Natalia Vasilievna, has also shown her interest in the educational field of the GWTO Academy.

Finally, José Antonio Vidal held a meeting with the Director of Simple Wine Travel Agency, Natalia Zhestkova, the main outcoming wine tourism touroperator in Russia.

About GWTO

A Global wine, agri and gastro Tourism Business and Knowledge Network, comprising the whole agritourism value chain located in wine destinations -related to ‘wine’ in its broader sense-, the public sector and the academic by GWTO Academy. GWTO has been created to enhance the social-economic development of wine tourism destinations and its residents through strategic value propositions, as part of an inclusive and supportive governance framework, based on the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals.

More info: Julia Smirnova
[email protected]

The Georgian EnoTourism Association (GETA) and Caucasus Int’l University join GWTO

With many centuries of experience in the field of winemaking, Georgia considers wine tourism as a source of revitalization.

To advance and move forward into a management and development stage, the Georgian EnoTourism Association (Geta) and its associate, the Caucasus International University (CIU), have formalized their membership to the Global Wine Tourism Organization (GWTO).

“Working together with GWTO is a great opportunity to promote the development of wine tourism in Georgia, actively contribute to the success of family wineries and their products, increase educational activities and, most importantly, to carry Georgia’s name as one of the best destinations for wine tourism in the international arena”, says the founder and member of the Geta Board of Directors, Kety Gorgiladze.

On August 5, the Rector of CIU, Kakhaber Kordzaia, and the founder of Geta, Keti Gorgiladze, held a meeting with the President of GWTO José Antonio Vidal, and the Senior Advisor, Carlos Vogeler, during which various areas of cooperation with GWTO and with the GWTO Academy were discussed.

Geta and GWTO thank the Ambassador of Georgia in Spain, H.E. Mr. Ilia Giorgadze for his collaboration, as well as the gastronomic writer and editor Federico Oldenburg, for his mediation.

The Global Wine Tourism Organization is presented in Puglia (Italy)

The first experience in Puglia for José Antonio Vidal (OMET President), where he had the opportunity to participate in a journey along almost the entire region to discover some excellent food and wine experiences having the opportunity to know its history, culture, tradition and simplicity of the genuine products of this land of the sun, taking an active part in all activities: picked tomatoes, strawberries and zucchini in a farm in Manduria run by a typical apulian family; visited the olive oil mills (frontoi) typical of Gallipoli area; has tasted the wines of the best wineries that produce Primitivo and Negramaro inside some exclusive Masserie, only to name a few. And to get even more into connection with the locals, José Antonio participated in a lab-cooking class to create the famous orecchiette, one of the symbolic products of the region.

During the live event at Oasi Quattro Colonne (Santa Maria al Bagno, Lecce) -the first in attendance after almost two years!-,  José Antonio presented GWTO to Puglia, the Global Wine Tourism Organization, in order to give its support to all companies and local actors who want to enter into a new vision of Wine Tourism: “Smart tourist destinations cannot exist without taking account of the sustainability and inclusiveness, not only as distinctive factors, but also as fundamental principles of the company’s philosophy and daily practice.  Now the capital relational takes on value over any other capital, ways of relating and uniting to be successful:  working together within the industry to strengthen quality and support the sale of local and fresh products and season to reactivate consumption and economy, supporting the entrepreneurial fabric “closer”, said the GWTO president.

In addition to interactive workshops and show cookings that have delighted all guests, high-level speakers have followed each other in the thematic panels.

About GWTO

A Global Wine Tourist Business and Knowledge Network -related to wine in its broader sense-, comprising the whole agritourist value chain (from public, private resources located in wine destinations, and academic sectors),  to contribute to the social-economic development of wine tourism destinations, as part of an inclusive and supportive governance framework based on the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals.

More information: [email protected]

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