How to Boost Wine Sales Through Oenotourism?

What could be more rewarding than introducing people from all over the world to your craft—or to traditions that have been passed down for centuries? Wine tourism attracts more than 10 million visitors each year (according to Atout France).

Create a wine tourism package

Before diving headfirst into organizing your wine tourism activities, it’s important to give careful thought to what you want to offer visitors. Winery tours, cellar tours, tastings—to name just a few? These are all activities you need to target and organize in such a way that tourists passing through the region come to see YOUR vineyards. Fortunately, there is a wide range of activities to offer: from the most classic to the most original. In fact, if you have a space open to the public, you can offer the classic“vineyard tour + tasting.” If you want to attract tourists seeking new experiences, you can organize an escape game in the cellars or a vintage car ride through the vineyards, with the goal of introducing as many people as possible to the winemaker’s craft!

Promote your wine tourism offerings

Once you’ve put together a comprehensive package to showcase your vineyard to passing tourists in the best possible way, it’s very important to promote this wine tourism offering. There are various communication channels you can use to let visitors know that your estate is open to the public:

• Your website serves as an ambassador for your offerings. In fact, some customers prefer to use the website for their purchases. It is therefore important to develop this communication channel to draw your customers’ attention to the other products you offer,
• The media also plays a central role in your communication strategy. In the 21st century, social media is an essential tool for promoting your business or products. If you’re not yet comfortable with these technologies, don’t hesitate to give them a try… results guaranteed!
• Word of mouth is a winemaker’s best friend. It’s worth noting that word of mouth is the primary source of information for purchasing decisions (according to an Accenture study), and this is especially true when it comes to wine. So this approach—undoubtedly the most cost-effective—is undoubtedly a crucial step in your marketing campaign.

Offer visitors samples of your products

Thanks to the creation of your wine tourism offering and the associated marketing efforts, your sales volume may have increased. It’s important to keep in mind that a wine tourist spends an average of €250 on wine consumption and purchases at the winery (according to Atout France), meaning this represents potential revenue for your business. To achieve this, don’t hesitate to offer tastings of your products and simply talk about your wines. This helps customers easily imagine themselves in tasting situations. While some customers will buy your wines even if they haven’t tasted them during their visit, offering tastings is a great sales tool and will help you increase your direct sales.

Run promotional offers

Just like a tasting event, promotional offers attract both regular customers and first-time buyers. There are various promotional campaigns that can help you increase sales volume:

• Contests: Share your contest on social media to give away a bottle of wine or a tour of the vineyard to the winner. This approach has two benefits: it helps generate buzz about you as a wine seller and as a wine tourism destination.
• Bonus offers: Give away a free accessory or product. You can structure this offer in various ways (e.g., one free product for every three purchased, or a free product on the 10th purchase). This program helps build customer loyalty and introduces customers to new products they might be interested in trying.
• Price reductions: Publish discount coupons in a local newspaper and offer 20% or 30% off a selection of products. You can also launch a special promotion (similar to a wine fair) that reduces product prices for a limited time.

Finally, once you’ve developed your wine tourism package, you’ll be able to enjoy a boost in direct sales thanks to the tips listed above. So if you want to get started in wine tourism, don’t wait any longer!

Lucas Chartier

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