The North American Wine Bloggers Conference concluded its fourth annual conference today in Charlottesville, Virginia. The conference brought together 330 wine bloggers and others involved in the online communication of wine to talk about social media, try a lot of wines, and experience the local wine country.
The Wine Tourism Conference was an item of discussion at the conference and many of the sponsors in attendance expressed a desire to participate in the WTC. The Wine Bloggers Conference brings in local sponsors like Virginia Wines and Virginia Tourism; state organizations such as the Indiana Wine Grape Council, the Missouri Wine and Grape Board, and the Maryland Wineries Association; and agencies from far away such as Wines of Chile, Wines of South Africa, and Planet Bordeaux. Individual wineries also attend, including Tabarrini, Tin Barn Vineyards, and King Estate.
Many of these sponsors mentioned they would be interested to attend and perhaps sponsor the Wine Tourism Conference. Our suggestion is to sign up now and commit to attend at minimum. Just let us know you are potentially interested in sponsoring and we’ll contact you to explain the options.
The Wine Tourism Conference will focus on increasing wine tourism – to individual wineries, to wine regions, and as an important aspect of the tourism industry. We all know wine tourism leads to greater wine sales, more hotel rooms booked, and more meals eaten. It is a tide that when rising helps everyone. Attending can help you learn how to increase and improve your own wine tourism and sponsorship can help you identify yourself as one of the premier wineries, wine regions, or wine-related service providers in the world of wine tourism.