Wine Industry Newsletter

Wine Industry to lead new International Wine Tourism Strategy   

WoWA update
Wines of Western Australia (WoWA) has been successful in securing a commitment of $2 million to the state's International Wine Tourism strategy under Wine Australia’s Export and Regional Wine Support Package.

WoWA has been the driving force behind the three-year strategy which seeks to increase international visitation to all of the state’s wine regions, increase visit lengths and spending in the region. 

WoWA is supported by DPIRD, Tourism Western Australia, and regional wine associations in leading the implementation of the strategy.

The strategy involves four key planks – inter-region collaboration with key sector partners, wine tourism product development, integrated communications and promotions, and regional partnerships and support programs.

WoWA is already working on the introduction of latest technology digital platforms created specifically for wine producers and regions, and assist consumers improve their navigation around wine regions with a full suite of interactive content. This technology, developed by Scoop Digital in Perth, is groundbreaking in its ability to integrate complex information and disseminate it to third party sites as well as providing smart interactive templates for application to wineries and wine regions. All content is being translated into Mandarin. The first parts of this project are scheduled for completion in November, with all the state’s wineries listed in the directory complete with Chinese translations.

Examples can be seen on the Scoop Wines website.

Another major component of the strategy will be to audit gaps and shortcomings in the regional tourism offerings with workshops, and information seminars planned to address these gaps and support cellar doors to build capacity.

A large part of the success of the strategy will rely on the fostering on inter-regional collaboration and alliances to cross-promote, extend opportunities and avoid duplication of resources. To this end, a Wine Tourism Alliance has been established, consisting of representatives from the wine industry, Tourism WA, DPIRD and regional tourism organisations. The Alliance will provide input to the strategy and ensure that interests of stakeholders are represented and information is dispersed to relevant networks.

The Wine Tourism Strategy is critically aligned with the existing Western Australian Wine Industry Strategic Plan 2014–2024 that aims to double wine exports to $100 million by 2021.

WoWA CEO Larry Jorgensen said, “This is the first time that a strategy is in place which is the result of a collaboration with state and national agencies, and wine, food and tourism sectors.

This will provide a legacy for future collaboration long after the funding is depleted in 2020, which in the long-term, augurs well for ongoing efficient and effective implementation of resources.”