With a raise of the glass to the importance and continued growth of wine tourism, the United Nations World Tourism Organization recently hosted its annual conference on the subject in La Rioja, Spain, one of the world’s leading wine tourism destinations.

Paving the way towards inclusive growth, especially in rural areas, requires clear policies and a commitment to embracing digital transformation and innovation, maintains the UNWTO. Recognizing this, the conference brought together key stakeholders and leaders from across the growing wine tourism sector to address priorities including education, skills development, and the effective use of data.

The 7th edition of the UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism welcomed thought-leaders from over 40 emerging and established wine destinations, including Argentina, Armenia, Chile, France, Germany, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and the United States.

As well as celebrating the growing interest in wine tourism, the event made clear the challenges for building more competitive destinations and transforming demand into economic growth and social inclusion.

Over the two-day event, takeaways included that skills development and a better understanding of the impacts and trends of wine tourism are crucial elements to create value and promote wine regions, ultimately enhancing their competitiveness.

And, with the impact of climate change affecting the sector, experts debated how to progress sustainability in wine tourism as well and progress digitalization for better processes.

Participants discussed the need to harmonize data collection, the use of new data sources and innovative strategies for expanding new products, outreach on social media, utilizing cutting-edge digital tools, and leveraging new technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, to create knowledge and a seamless experience.

Navigating the complex network of stakeholders in wine tourism, the event also put the spotlight on the importance of having national and local wine tourism strategies while fostering the debate on new, innovative forms of collaboration.

During the closing ceremony, La Rioja handed over the symbolic amphora to Armenia, marking the country’s status as

Armenia was announced as host for the 2024 conference.