From May 12 to May 13, Abrau-Dyurso hosted the largest event of the enotourism industry in Russia – the First Wine Tourism Forum. The event was organized by the Abrau-Durso Tourism Center with the support of the World Wine Tourism Organization (GWTO) and the International Center for Wine and Gastronomy.
The results of the 1st Wine Tourism Forum were summed up in Abrau-Dyurso< /p>
For the first time, more than 400 — representatives of wineries, tour operators, authorities and other market participants, — who discussed topical issues and strategies for the development of wine tourism.
The forum opened with welcome words from Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, which were read out by the owner of the Abrau-Dyurso Group of Companies; Boris Titov. “The rich program of the 1st Wine Tourism Forum will allow the exchange of the best world practices of doing business in the field of tourism, as well as the conclusion of partnership agreements. I am sure that this event will further strengthen the image of Russia as a hospitable, comfortable country for recreation».
Boris Titov, for his part, addressed the participants and guests of the event, noting that more and more initiatives are being implemented in Russia to develop wine tourism, including important measures of state support for Russian winemakers. Also the owner of GK “Abrau-Durso” added: “All over the world, winemaking provides an additional opportunity to attract tourists, and enotourism, in turn, contributes to the growth of wineries. Today we see more and more wineries that amaze not only with the high quality of their products, but also with architectural solutions, beauty and surroundings. We can see how large farms are transformed, small businesses and new tourist routes are emerging.
In continuation, an appeal to the participants of the Forum from the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory Veniamin Kondratiev was read out: “The wine industry — the real pride of our region. Based on many years of experience, scientific research and advanced technologies, our enterprises not only produce world-class quality products, but also offer great opportunities for the development of wine tourism, which is gaining popularity year by year. The appeal from the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory was read by the Acting Minister of Resorts, Tourism and Olympic Heritage of the Krasnodar Territory Mikhail Zaritsky.
The large-scale business program of the event was attended by Jose Antonio Vidal, President of the World Wine Tourism Organization (GWTO), who noted the importance of enotourism at the international level. In his report, he highly appreciated the development potential of the sphere and the importance of a steady increase in the level of professionalism and quality of services provided for each guest.
Irina Fedina, Deputy Director of the Department of Food and Processing Industry of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, in her speech emphasized the exceptional importance of promoting wine from Russian grapes in state policy, which, among other things, is facilitated by the development of wine tourism. The expert also noted the need to allow the creation of tourism infrastructure near winemaking facilities at the legislative level.
One of the key and most discussed topics of the Forum was the comprehensive development of enotourism in Russia, as well as the legislative framework, changes in which regarding the regulation of capital construction norms remain the most important for many market participants. Aleksey Kondratenko, a member of the Committee on Agrarian Food Policy and Environmental Management of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, also spoke about new opportunities for creating tourist facilities at wineries. He noted that an initiative has already been submitted to the State Duma to amend the Law “On Viticulture and Winemaking in the Russian Federation”, which will make it possible to place on plots included in the register of vineyard lands, including farmland, capital construction facilities, non-capital buildings and structures, intended for the production of wine and the provision of wine tourism services. Since a significant part of wineries in Russia are small businesses, the opportunity to organize wine tourism within their own winery will allow them to promote their products in a new, effective way.
Impressive results of the largest enotourist center in Russia — Tourism Center «Abrau-Durso» — Irina Goncharova, Vice President for Tourism and Special Projects of the Abrau-Durso Group of Companies, introduced the Forum participants. Particular attention in the speech was paid to the most pressing issues of the industry: the unification of market participants, legislation, including restrictions on advertising tools, lack of personnel.
Special guests and participants of the event were representatives of diplomatic missions of four foreign states at once, including Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay to the Russian Federation Daniel Ruben Castillos Gomez, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Mexican States to the Russian Federation Eduardo Villegas Mejias, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Dominican Republic Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos, Head of the Department of Economics and Trade of the Embassy of the Republic of Peru in the Russian Federation Yegorov Ramirez Hinojosa.
Foreign guests of the event also took part in the work of the Forum and shared their experience and practice of developing enotourism business — Director of the GWTO in the People's Republic of China Jianwei Jiang, Director of the GWTO in the Republic of Uzbekistan Sergey Danilov, Director of the GWTO Wine Tourism Academy in Portugal Bebiana Monteiro, Director of the GWTO Wine Tourism Academy in Chile Jorge Espinoza, and Vice President of the GWTO in Latin America Pablo Singerman, Marketing -Director of the agency for the development and promotion of tourism in the Republic of Turkey Ceylan Sensoy and others.
During the panel discussion, topical issues of the industry were discussed: the promotion of enotourist regions of Russia, the law on advertising, economic aspects of performance, certification of wine guides, the creation of a unified map of wine routes, the lack of qualified personnel, and much more. Particular attention was paid to the development of transport accessibility of individual regions and tools to increase the tourist flow. Leonid Gelibterman, Vice-President of the World Wine Tourism Organization (GWTO) for the Eurasia region, noted the achievements of Russian enotourism in recent years, as well as the need for a stable increase in the level of service. Leonid Popovich, GWTO Director for Russia, emphasized the special importance of cooperation between market players – Only by uniting will it be possible to achieve positive changes.
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Within the framework of the Forum, another significant event for domestic enotourism took place — were awarded official certificates of entry into the World Wine Tourism Organization (GWTO) to the first three Russian wineries. Diplomas were received by representatives of the Krasnodar Territory — “Abrau-Durso” and Château de Talu, as well as the center of wine tourism from the Crimea WINEPARK. Joining the international association will provide opportunities for the exchange of experience, holding events and developing partnerships with other GWTO members.
A special panel discussion was devoted to the topic of training a personnel reserve in the field of wine tourism, where experts discussed possible ways to address the lack of qualified personnel. An important step on this path — the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Southern Federal University (Rostov-on-Don) and the Abrau-Dyurso Tourism Center, the purpose of which was strategic cooperation in the scientific and educational field.
The second day of the Forum was devoted to the interaction of wineries with tour operators and wine guides: in the format of a lively discussion, issues of interaction between industry representatives were discussed, points of growth were identified, and proposals for partnership were also made.
The I Wine Tourism Forum brought together caring experts and professionals who presented their vision of current issues and the development of wine tourism in Russia — an industry that has significant potential to become an important part of the image of Russia and domestic winemaking in the international arena. It is planned that the Wine Tourism Forum will become an annual meeting place for like-minded people and colleagues.
The media partners of the event were the Vedomosti business publication, the Kompaniya business publication, the Snob media project, the Robb Report magazine, the Vokrug Sveta magazine, the Ridus.ru online publication, the Komsomolskaya Pravda media group, the Simple Wine News, State Unitary Enterprise KK “Television and Radio Company” NTK “, gastronomic online guide 50 Best Tastes of Russia, expert Internet projects” Wine and People “,” MinWin “.
More information about the 1st Wine Tourism Forum can be found on the website http://enotourismforum.ru/
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Tourism Center “Abrau-Durso” is one of the important objects responsible for the tourist flow of the Krasnodar Territory. Behind the Russian wine house “Abrau-Durso” the status of the most visited stand-alone winery in Russia, as well as the most visited by tourists object in Novorossiysk, is firmly established. In 2022, Abrau-Durso received about 500,000 guests, of which more than 200,000 visited enotourism programs. Tourism Center “Abrau-Durso” became the first among all domestic enterprises in 2022 to become a member of the World Wine Tourism Organization (GWTO).
Resort "Abrau-Durso" offers its guests a variety of tourism destinations: sightseeing, enogastronomic, MICE, sports and entertainment, health, wine, beach and many others. The resort hosts wine and gastronomy festivals and business events, sailing regattas and theatrical performances.
World Wine Tourism Organization (GWTO) — is an international association, which includes wine and gastro tourism organizations, associations, private companies and institutions, the purpose of which is to accelerate the socio-economic development of wine tourism. Mission — a comprehensive partnership to develop an inclusive and sustainable management model for wine tourism enterprises. Members of the organization exchange experience, receive consulting services, assistance in training and marketing promotion, conduct and participate in business events on the topic of wine tourism. As a result of their activities, enogastronomy becomes not just an attraction, but an engine of the economy of producing countries and a tool for attracting tourists.
International Center for Wine and Gastronomy (IEC) , acting under the leadership of the Vice President of the GWTO, organizes events aimed at improving the general enogastronomic culture of end consumers, raising the professional level of specialists in the hospitality industry, the alcohol market, the food and non-alcoholic beverages market, as well as developing and implementing special projects in the field of gastronomic tourism in the regions of the Russian Federation and abroad.
The WEC solves for its partners a set of issues related to the promotion of high-quality alcoholic beverages and food products from different countries of the world on the Russian market and Russian products on the markets of foreign countries, in fact, performing the functions of a specialized marketing agency in this part.