Eating and drinking are the simplest of human pleasures. Yet it has taken the Australian wine and food industries until recently to successfully pair the two ‘naturals’ and spark a new wave of development that is expected to boost both food and beverage exports.

Surveys are being undertaken, reports compiled and industry and tourism strategies revised. A lot of groundwork is going into redefining the opportunities to be had from a symbiotic meshing of the two … and that’s just at the government level.

Industry, back-boning off the increasing number of successful examples spanning Australia and New Zealand, is leading the charge and defining just what the terms mean to a successful brand and its domestic and export poten -tial. Many wine companies will be using this year’s ‘quiet time’ to get busy extending cellar doors, build-ing restaurants and revising menus and marketing.

And there’s a good reason why. During 2002 there were almost 4.4 million interna-tional and domestic visitors to Australian wineries. During 2001/02 the top five ‘countries of origin’ of international visitors to wineries were the United Kingdom, Europe, New Zealand, the United States and Singapore.

According to a report by the Winemakers Federation of Australia (WFA) entitled A Snapshot of Wine Tourism in Australia expenditure on wine tourism was about $965 million during 1999/2000, of which $411 million was spent at wineries on wine, food, merchandise and accommodation. With wine as the draw-card, wine tourists then spent a further $554 million in regional communities on food, accommodation, transport and meals. Analysts agree this growth is giving wine an ‘extra dimension’ and fuelling growth and infrastructure development in general. There are currently 1,634 wineries in Australia with 1,288 (79 percent) having cellar door facilities and about 23 percent also having on-site restaurants or facilities to provide light meals. These figures, according to the WFA report, represent an increase of 169 and 123, wineries and cellar doors respectively, from the 2001 figures.

International retailers are also backing the concept of countries like Australia and New Zealand developing regional brand profiles that could allow for a new wave of value added marketing.

The United Kingdom’s Sainsbury Supermarkets is the second largest retailer of wine in the UK Director of Wine, Allan Cheesman, believes the overseas market is eagerly looking for a new take on wine from Australia and New Zealand.

“There are many unique regions in both countries that have yet to be exploited at the retail level. And I’d say the same holds true for food and wine. However, the problem is that consumers in the UK in general have no idea about regionality and the industry will have to address this if they want to capitalise upon it.”

Mr Cheesman said consumer perceptions of regions should be built upon an amalgamation of many themes from wine through to food, tourism and the production environment. However, it made sense to focus on one entry point, for example wine, to re g i o n a l understanding.

But just what is required to build a region’s image through wine and food tourism?

WFA Tourism Development director Lisa Davies said the key factor that defined success in the area was a robust approach to business development.

“The value of research cannot be underestimated and should underpin the development of any wine tourism facility. Once completed a business and marketing plan must be developed tak-ing into account potential consumers expectations and requirements.

“ Products and services should be developed using the available consumer re s e a rch. When delivering these products and services attention to detail and a high standard of customer service are key to maximising the potential for a positive experience. Attention to the internal and external building facilities (e.g. no potholes in the car park, gardens neat-ly tended) will also leave a lasting impre s-s i o n .

“But throughout all of this it must be remembered that, as the lynchpin of the entire experience is the wine on offer, the quality of the wine must be of a high enough standard to match the consumer’s expectations.” She said cellar door operations were an essential element of every winery’s brand regardless of their size and scale. They were an ideal opportunity to build a personality for the wine and create a real difference from the competition. The layout, the approach of staff, the ambience, the view and environs, the facilities and amenities were all components that help shape a customer’s impression of the winery.

“Astute winery operators spend considerable re s o u rces each year p roviding the best cellar door experience possible to bond the cus-tomer to the brand and ultimately create a long-term loyal cus-t o m e r. ”

Ms Davies believes the wine industry and the tourism industry share a major common goal in capturing and presenting a unique sense of place to consumers, whether they are wine drinkers or tourists at home or overseas.

“Increasingly, it is becoming clear that unless many regional winemakers diversify their activities at the winery to develop addi-tional income streams through a commitment to winery tourism, then their chances of growing and even their survival could be at risk.

“Over the past decade Australia’s wine and tourism industries have both developed strong and positive images around the world to the point where those images are now at the forefront of the world’s perception of Australia. The image of wine has devel-oped into one of a lifestyle product while desirable tourism activities are also now more focused on lifestyle, personal development and experien-tial activities.”

Global trends have identified that tourists are looking for a more par-ticipatory style of holiday experi-ence, one that offers them the opportunity to do more than be a spectator. “There is a shift from ‘look and see’ towards ‘touch and feel’. Winery visitation can offer these sorts of experiences,” Ms Davies said.

“Now is an opportune time for the wine and tourism industries to cooperatively drive wine tourism through enhancing the product available and increasing awareness in Australia and overseas. Australia is well on the way to becoming one of the premium wine tourism destinations in the world, but in order to take full advantage of this opportunity we must embrace the challenge.”

The key to maximising the opportunity for success was contin-gent upon the industries working toward a common goal that delivered higher returns for all concerned.

She said potential impediments to growth in the sector includ-ed: a general lack of information and research regarding wine tourism and tourists; a need to raise the level of awareness and understanding of tourism within the wine industry and vice versa; a need to increase the knowledge and skill level of wine tourism operators, winery staff and quality of supporting products and services; and a need to establish stronger links between the Australian lifestyle and Australian wine and food.

“Overall wine industry viability is also a serious potential impediment to future growth. High tax rates, retail consolidation and increasing competition are all factors posing a threat to the profitability and viability of many wineries, especially many small and medium wineries that would typically pursue wine tourism opportunities. However, many of these potential impediments also act as incentives for wineries to diversify their income streams wherever possible by devel-oping their wine tourism potential,” she said.

Wine tourism had now been identified within the strategic plans of virtually every state and territory tourism organization as an important element of the range of experiences being sought by the visitors of today. Several had established dedicated committees to focus on the development and promotion of wine and food tourism. At a state level there had been quite a lot of work done focussing on the standards of the products and services being off e red by wineries.

The wine industry’s strategic planning processes (Marketing Decade, Strategy 2025, Strategy 2025 Five-Year Plan) have identi-fied the potential for wine tourism activities to provide greater financial security and growth for wineries, to provide an alterna-tive income stream and assist with improving returns.

“The National Wine Tourism Strategy was developed as a response to the wine indus-try’s identification of the potential for wine tourism to enhance winery viability. The Strategy was developed with financial support from the Federal Government and key wine and tourism industry stakeholders. As a follow-up to that the WFA has secured a grant to implement projects from the National Wine Tourism Strategy.”

Ms Davies said the WFA would be operating a Wine Industry Business and Marketing Skills Improvement Program (WineSkills) in con-junction with the Federal Government.This would involve attendance at business and marketing planning workshops throughout Australia’s wine regions by groups of approximately 15-20 wineries.