Join an expected 250 wine tourism professionals for the third annual Wine Tourism Conference, scheduled for November 13-15 in Portland, Oregon. This year, the conference will be even better with a pre-conference excursion, additional workshops, a post-conference wine-pairing dinner, and the first-ever Great American Wine Festival.
The Wine Tourism Conference serves two needs: 1) It provides hard information about the important and growing industry of wine tourism that you can bring home to affect your local business or organization and 2) It provides a forum for meeting your fellow leaders in the wine tourism industry. The conference will appeal to:
- Wineries that would like to increase the number of visitors to their winery and improve cellar door sales
- Wine and tourism associations and chambers of commerce who are tasked to increase the number of butts in seats, bodies in beds, and inquiring minds at area attractions
- Tour operators, travel agencies, transportation companies, and event planners who provide wine tourism offerings to the public
- Hotels and restaurants that make a substantial portion of their living from wine tourism
- Public relations professionals and other consultants to the wine and tourism industries
- Academics and students from university wine tourism programs
- Media and bloggers who write about wine and tourism
What can you expect to get out of the conference?
- An overview of the current state of wine tourism from our keynote speakers and industry panels
- Specific, useful information you can use in subjects such as social media marketing, public relations, staffing, and more from our breakout sessions and two pre-conference workshops
- Strategy sessions you can engage in with others in your industry during our Industry Track sessions
- Networking opportunities both in a formal Meet & Greet session, during the smaller breakout sessions, and at sponsored lunches, receptions, and excursions into Oregon’s wine country
- An opportunity to pour your wine at our Wednesday evening reception if you are one of the first 40 winery associations registered to attend
- Optional pre-conference excursion, winery workshops, and Friday night wine-pairing dinner at an additional cost
- The first-ever Great American Wine Festival the day after the conference
Arrival and Departure
The conference begins on Wednesday evening, November 13th at 5:00 PM with Registration and a Trade Show, immediately followed by the Opening Night Regional Wines Reception sponsored by Touring & Tasting Magazine. Prior to this we are offering two Workshops for the wine industry – see the Events page for details. The actual conference content begins on Thursday morning at 9:15 AM and it is possible to register that morning as well. The conference ends at 5:00 PM on Friday, November 15.
In addition, we have scheduled a pre-conference excursion that begins on Tuesday afternoon in Eugene and ends on Wednesday afternoon in Portland, two pre-conference Workshops in the Portland hotel, a post conference dinner on Friday evening, and a consumer wine festival on Saturday. Please see the Events page for details.
Getting to Portland is easy. You will fly into Portland International Airport (PDX) and by far the easiest way to reach the conference hotel is via the Portland MAX Light Rail system. Take the red line from the airport to the Lloyd Center / NE 11th Avenue station and walk 1/10th of a mile (one block north and 1/2 block west) to the hotel.
Host Hotel
The Portland Doubletree is located in central Portland, has hosted three of Zephyr Adventures’ conferences already (the wine, food, and beer blogger conferences), and is welcoming the Wine Tourism Conference with open arms. Located at 1000 NE Multnomah Street, the hotel is directly across the river and an easy light rail ride from both downtown and the airport. It was also the first Green Seal certified hotel in Portland. We have a block of rooms on hold for conference attendees and highly suggest you stay at the Doubletree since all conference activities will be held there. Our group rate is $139 (or $159 for a “premium room”), which includes parking (normally $18 per night) and in-room internet (normally $12.95).
Conference Organizer
The Wine Tourism Conference is organized by Zephyr Adventures, which has been providing adventure travel tour vacations around the world since 1997 and specializes in trekking, bicycling, inline skating, and active wine, food, and beer tours. Recognizing an unfulfilled need for real-life gatherings for those involved in online social media, Zephyr Adventures also owns and operates a series of conferences for wine, beer, food, and fitness and health bloggers. For information on the WBC see www.WineBloggersConference.org.
Advisory Board
We are also proud to have an excellent Advisory Board that guides our decisions regarding content and speakers, consisting of the following individuals:
- Ray Johnson, Sonoma State University’s Wine Business Institute
- Nancy Light, Wine Institute
- Colby Smith, Concierge Alliance of Napa Valley and Sonoma
- Dan Fox, Touring & Tasting Marketing and Media
- Morgen McLaughlin, Finger Lakes Wine Country
- Allison George, Washington County Visitors Association
- Donnie Winchell, Ohio Wine
- Annette Boyd, Virginia Wine Marketing Board
- Charles Humble, Oregon Wine Board
- Judiaann Woo, Travel Oregon
- Amir Eylon, Brand USA
We hope you can join us in November, 2013 in Oregon!
