The Next Big Thing – Wine & Gourmet Trails

While newer entrants in the market are still identifying destinations to focus on, outbound gurus are firming the roots of niche segments in destination marketing, discovers Sheetal Wadhwa Munshaw

Marketing destinations has taken on a whole new dimension with both outbound agents and international tourism boards exploring new aspects of destinations. Heritage tourism, beach tourism, shopping tourism etc have been in existence for years. Even wildlife tourism is firming ground but the next big thing in the outbound sector seems to be wine and gourmet tourism. International tourism boards say the level of enthusiasm among outbound travellers for such tours confirms the scope of this segment. Agents and tourism boards are gearing to cash in on this new found interest.

Tapping the gourmet segment

With wine culture steadily setting into the Indian market, and the number of discerning travellers augmenting significantly, the Indian outbound segment seems to be ready to explore special interest tours such as gourmet tourism. These special interest tourists could stay in wine regions, in wine estates and witness wine making techniques, grape crushing, enjoy sumptuous local fare paired with estate wines. Activities would include wine appreciation, wine tasting and food and wine pairing sessions conducted by professional wine connoisseurs and epicureans.

Endorses, Catherine Oden, regional director, South-East Asia and India, French Tourist Office, "There is a growing number of wine lovers in India and the discovery of wine is very ‘addictive’. When you start sipping a wine you usually would like to know more about it - where it comes from, what type of environment does it come from, who are the people who made it. Eventually, visiting the different regions becomes a must! Each region has its own strong identity – the wines are very different and so also the people, the landscapes, the climate, the different variants of wine festivals from one region to the other etc. It is a never-ending process. We have so many different wine regions, each is a destination on its own. Of course we are not expecting our Indian travellers to spend so much time at the beginning but we are confident that the more they discover the more they will be willing to discover. I have already met some sophisticated travellers, epicureans who showed enthusiasm in following a wine tour in Champagne, Burgundy or to even participate in cooking classes in Provence."

Says Salvatore Ianniello, representative in India, Italian State Tourist Board (ENIT), "We have identified two special aspects: agro tourism and wine and gastronomy tourism. For example, many tour operators in the Capri area offer, along with the day’s tour schedule, special cuisine classes to tourists coming from America and Japan. Other tour operators have specialised in organising tours to give tourists a taste of the best wines and the most typical cuisines. For example in Piedmont, we will have a wine gastronomic tour with also the possibility to visit the Italian Institute of Chefs, and the Cinema Museum."

Key Players

Both old world and new world wine countries have a plethora of options lined up for gourmets and wine lovers of the world. Countries such as France, Italy, South Africa, Australia and many more are already conducting gourmet tours for international audiences and are now showcasing world class wines and culinary specialities to entice the Indian outbound travellers.

Marketing Strategy

Broadly speaking, most tourism boards intend to popularise this segment through a two-pronged strategy which includes:

Media Fams: The Italian, Australian and French tourism boards plan to invite journalists to the main gourmet regions of their respective countries and gain exposure through media coverge.

Food & Wine Festivals - Culninary festivals such as the ‘Festa Italiana’ hosted by ENIT in Mumbai in December 2002, the upcoming ‘Namaste India’ in Italy which will showcase Indian cuisine among other cultural highlights and the ‘Festa Italiana’ in Mumbai will give India a taste of Italy while promoting the gastronomic experience the country has to offer. The ATC hosts media celebrities to festivals like the Food & Wine Festival in Melbourne and the Tasting Australia festival in Adelaide.

In South Africa, the strategy already in existence is that of organising mega culinary events that invite international chefs and media. For instance, the recently held ‘A Tiger Brands World Cooks Tour for Hunger’ invited 143 of the world’s greatest international chefs from 33 countries that coincided with the 75th anniversary of the World Association of Cooks Society, the 10th anniversary of the first cooks tour to South Africa and locally with the South African Chefs 29th anniversary.