Great Wine Capitals
Wine tourism is a branch of gastronomic tourism that has gained interest in recent years. There is a segment of tourists who are no longer satisfied with a classic city visit with their own attractions (cultural and/or artistic), now they go to destinations looking for sensory experiences and, among them, the wine has been a strong attraction for this emerging niche market.
That is the reason why traveling to a wine region, conversing with producers, discovering their wines, their cuisine, their history and learning from this enological ambiance is increasingly common among travelers. However, to achieve expectations of these quite specific tourists requires a great deal of effort, both by wine producers and by government tourism agencies.
This need led to the signing of an agreement in 1999, which concentrated a network of cities around the world that had one thing in common: wine and gastronomic potential attractions. Since then, this alliance brings together 10 cities around the world that are now recognized for their important influence in the world of wine. They are considered as tourist destinations where the wine and gastronomic attractions play a very important role in the development, not only tourist but also academic and economic of the city itself.
The member cities:
Adelaide | South Australia
Australia
Bilbao | Rioja
Spain
Bordeaux | Bordeaux
France
Lausanne | Lausanne
Switzerland
Mainz | Rheinhessen
Germany
Mendoza | Mendoza
Argentina
Porto | Douro
Portugal
San Francisco | Napa Valley
United States
Valparaiso | Casablanca Valley
Chile
Verona | Veneto
Italy
These cities have formed strong and solid bonds in several features. They participate together to promote tourism, education, research, investment and business development around the world of wine.
The initiative of Great Wine Capitals has allowed the wine tourism and gastronomic development of the member cities thanks to various activities, one of the most important is the annual awards program: "Best of International Wine Tourism Awards" that distinguishes the quality and worth of the wine tourism of each city.
The categories in which the prizes are awarded are the following:
Accommodation
Wine Tourism Restaurants
Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices
Architecture & Landscape
Art & Culture
Innovative Wine Tourisme Experiences
Wine Tourism Services
These awards are given each year in a memeber city belonging to the network of Great Wine Capitals that gathers the best of the best of wine tourism in the world.
Source: Great Wine Capitals
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