Wine Tourism Day Date in the current year: November 9, 2024

Wine tourism, also known as enotourism, oenotourism or vinitourism, is a type of tourism that focuses on the tasting, consumption and/or purchase of wine, typically in the region where the wine is made. It may include winery tours, vineyard walks, wine tastings, or even participation in the grape harvest. At most wineries, visitors learn the winery’s history, see how the wine is made, and then attend a wine tasting or a meal that focuses upon showcasing the wines. Most wineries have a shop at the premises where tourists can purchase the wines they liked. At some wineries, guests can stay in a guest house should they want to extend their visit.

Despite the long history of wine-making, wine tourism is a relatively new industry. It history varies greatly from one wine-making region to another. For example, wine tourism in California’s Wine Country began to rise in the mid-1970s, when Californian wineries joined their marketing efforts. It was also given a boost by the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, where Napa wines won two blind tasting comparisons over French wines. Other wine-making regions have only been marketing wine tourism since the mid-2000s to diversify their tourism industry.

Although wine tourism is still developing, it has already become a very lucrative industry. According to statistics, 17% of all leisure travelers in the United States engage in wine-related or culinary activities. On a global scale, enotourism generates over 50 billion euros of direct economic revenue. Given its growing popularity and importance, it is not surprising that there is a holiday celebrating wine tourism.

Wine Tourism Day originated as European Wine Tourism Day. It was established in 2009 by the European Network of Wine Cities (RECEVIN), an international platform representing the union and strength of European cities with strong economic reliance on wine-making. The main goal of the holiday was to promote the growing industry of wine tourism in Europe.

Over the next few years, wine cities from non-European countries joined the celebration, and European Wine Tourism Day became simply Wine Tourism Day. Ever year, Wine Tourism Day events take place in Austria, Germany, Greece, France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and other wine-making countries around the globe.

Of course, the best way to celebrate Wine Tourism Day is to travel to a winery or vineyard to get the full experience. However, if you don’t have time or money for it, there are plenty of other options. You can attend a wine tasting or a wine and food pairing class near you, go out to a wine bar with your friends, buy a bottle of wine from a country you never tried before, read a book, watch a documentary or listen to a podcast about wine and wine-making, and spread the word about the holiday on social media with the hashtags #WineTourismDay and #EnotourismDay.