Stellenbosch Wine
Routes makes its debut at ITB in Berlin
Stellenbosch’s Wine
Tourism campaign goes global
Jordan Vineyards
The Stellenbosch
American Express ® Wine Routes, South Africa’s first and foremost wine
route and gourmet capital of the country, will be making its debut at the 2014
ITB Berlin – the world’s largest tourism convention – as part of the global
launch of its dynamic wine tourism marketing campaign, Stellenbosch
Experience.
From 5 till 9 March,
the granddaddy of South African Wine Routes will join forces with South African
Tourism, Wesgro – the Western Cape’s tourism, trade and investment promotion
agency – and Tripadvisor in showcasing the potential of wine tourism in
Stellenbosch and the broader Western Cape to the world’s largest gathering of
tourism trade and media.
“The potential of wine
tourism in South Africa is huge, and Stellenbosch and the Western Cape at large
are perfectly placed to attract more wine tourists to our country, but then a
far greater and more aligned effort is needed on a global scale. We are
thrilled about this collaboration and cannot wait to introduce Stellenbosch as
the ultimate wine tourism destination in terms of quality, authenticity and
value for money experiences to the world,” shares Annareth Bolton, CEO of
the Stellenbosch Wine Routes.
‘Recent research by
Tourism New Zealand found
that 13% of all international travellers visit wineries and embark on wine
tourism related activities annually. These travellers spend more on average
than other leisure travellers and stay longer. It is no wonder that
destinations like New Zealand are focusing a lot more on wine tourism
promotions,” adds Bolton.
The Stellenbosch
Experience, which will internationally launch at ITB, is a dynamic
marketing campaign initiated by the Stellenbosch Wine Routes in association
with Destinate, an international tourism marketing agency established by
Mariette du Toit-Helmbold after a successful ten year tenure as CEO of Cape
Town Tourism. The campaign is supported by Stellenbosch 360 (aka Stellenbosch
Tourism) and the aim is to expand the region’s wine tourism footprint, locally
and abroad.
“With this campaign we
aim for maximum international recognition, making use of primarily digital
marketing to showcase the wealth of our wine tourism offering and our passion
and pride to the world. ITB offers the perfect platform for us to share just
why Stellenbosch is South Africa’s wine tourism capital and benefit from the
leading think tank of the global tourism industry,” explains Bolton.
The establishing
of the Stellenbosch Wine Routes in 1971 was seen as the start of wine tourism
in South Africa. Not only did it herald the first co-operative venture between
a corporate entity and a wine region, but it also enabled a specific wine
region to approach the whole topic of wine tourism on a level that had until
then not been seen in the South African wine industry. Today it is recognised
as the leader in South African wine tourism and the country’s premier wine
route in terms of quality wines, tourism offerings, professionalism,
reputation, innovation and community involvement.
As part of the Stellenbosch
Experience international launch – trade and media visitors to ITB will
be able to take part in an exclusive ‘The Ultimate Wine Tourism Bucket
List’ competition, which will expose the world’s top trade and travel
media to what Stellenbosch and its wine routes have to offer.
Leading up to the
convention, international trade and media are invited to select their ‘ultimate
bucket list’ from an enticing itinerary of awe-inspiring experiences in and
around Stellenbosch, ranging from harvesting with a winemaker and dining with a
local celebrity chef, to game viewing in the Winelands and learning how to
drive a tractor. One lucky winner and a partner will then win their ‘ultimate
bucket list’ and will experience just why Stellenbosch is the perfect hub from
where to explore Cape Town and the surrounding regions of the Western Cape.
Entries will be
managed via the Stellenbosch Experience’s new, inter-active blog, StellenBlog,
which shares and celebrates the latest news, stories, communities and rich
culture of this historic Winelands destination with daily updates on the
catchy blog wall.
Other campaign
elements include an enhanced digital presence across all social media networks
and an innovative wine tourism blogger campaign with top international and
national travel, lifestyle and food bloggers between April and September.
For more information
on the Stellenbosch Experience initiative visit the new blog http://blog.wineroute.co.za/, contactMariette
du Toit-Helmbold at experience@wineroute.co.za or
phone 083 225 5955.
