Wine Tourism in Greece: vision or reality?

In Greece though where do we actually stand? Well it seems that there is at last some positive action indicating that maybe something is finally changing to a rather neutral wine tourism past.

Quite recently there has been a new development as the very much desired wine tourism legal framework (Law 4276/14) has been finally put in paper. The new law describes the specifications required so that a winery can get the official seal of approve to become ''open to wine tourists''. According to a recent research (Alempaki M, Wine Tourism: Historical development, theoretical background and current research trends, Athens 2016) there are about 242 wineries open to visitors but it remains to see how many of those will eventually manage to get this official certification.

This is a really encouraging progression that provides the necessary structure for better organisation, pushing Greek wine tourism a notch higher. The Greek wine tourism that has so far mainly being expressed through the so-called Wine Roads regional associations, (with the Union of Northern Greece being the first as of 1993 and then followed by other regional associations) and the strong brand of Santorini.

But if a wannabe wine tourist is looking for information about organised wine tours, he will have a hard time finding some as no proper structure or organisation exists! As Marianne Spingos, a consultant in wine tourism, says ''the information is incomplete and fragmented''.

However, several (brave) wineries exist showing a will to get involved  in wine tourism, having invested in facilities and services supply. The options vary from a simple tasting package to high scale accommodation possibilities. Until now, complete wine tourism packages (tour, food, accommodation) are offered by a handful of wineries (including among them Averoff, Semeli, Tetramythos, Paterianakis, Boutari in Crete, Porto Carras and La Tour Melas currently in its final phase).

The first International Wine Tourism Conference held in Santorini a few days ago has created even greater expectations. I cannot wait to check out the outcome and get the feeling for the future steps.

So as we are gradually developing our wine tourism frame, we need to think seriously where and how we really can evolve the sector on a stable basis with proper organisation and appropriate marketing that expresses originality and innovation. Avoiding at the same time the clichés that this or that region is very similar to Bordeaux, Burgundy or Tuscany... I bet that the ones who draw such comparison have never actually visited either of these classic regions.

What we do have in plethora is our extraordinary gorgeously beautiful places and landscapes that we need to promote and market following a (single) strategy.

Extract taken from Kathimerini newspaper, published on September 18, 2016