La Rioja, a renowned wine tourism destination, hosted the inaugural UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism. This event emphasized the significance of inclusivity and sustainability in benefiting local communities and territories.

To achieve inclusive growth, particularly in rural regions, it is crucial to have well-defined policies and a dedicated effort to adopt digital transformation and innovation. With this understanding, the Conference united influential stakeholders and leaders from the expanding wine tourism industry. Their focus was on addressing crucial areas such as education, skills enhancement, and leveraging data effectively.

Unleashing the Potential of Wine Tourism

Participating in the 7th edition of the UNWTO conference were influential figures in the wine industry, representing up-and-coming and well-established wine regions such as Argentina, Armenia, Chile, France, Germany, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and the United States of America. In addition to recognizing the increasing popularity of wine tourism, the conference highlighted the obstacles involved in developing more competitive destinations and converting demand into economic prosperity and social integration. Throughout the two-day event, attendees engaged in workshops and masterclasses centered around the following topics:

Enhancing competitiveness in wine regions involves recognizing the importance of skill development and gaining a comprehensive understanding of the impacts and trends in wine tourism. These factors contribute significantly to creating value and promoting wine regions.

Experts deliberated on the advancement of sustainability in wine tourism and the implementation of digitalization to enhance operational efficiency, considering the influence of climate change on the industry. Key topics included the synchronization of data collection, exploration of novel data sources, adoption of innovative approaches to diversify product offerings, expansion of social media outreach, utilization of state-of-the-art digital tools, and leveraging emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence to foster knowledge creation and deliver a seamless customer experience.

Fostering growth through collaborative partnerships: Embracing inclusivity and sustainability

The event emphasized the significance of national and local wine tourism strategies and encouraged discussions on innovative collaboration methods. Through a range of masterclasses, participants from 40+ countries shared and enhanced their understanding of the connections between wine tourism, gastronomy, arts and culture, communication and branding, new technologies, product development, and sustainability.

Armenia received the symbolic amphora from La Rioja during the closing ceremony, signifying their role as the future host of the 8th UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism in 2024.