Tourists the target

By DITA DE BONI

Can New Zealand's wine hotspots attract as much tourism as California's Napa Valley or South Australia's Barossa?

All the factors involved in turning New Zealand into a destination to rival them are being discussed in Marlborough this week by around 245 leading lights from the wine, tourism, investment and food sectors. Tourism Minister Mark Burton is chipping in from the policy perspective.

The nation's first wine tourism conference is being held at Montana's Brancott Estate, and will canvas questions such as "maximising the cellar-door experience."

Strategies developed during the three-day chin-wag are aimed at addressing how industry-wide standards in food and wine tourism can be established, identifying impediments to further development of the sector, and how tourism can further boost the wine industry's export earnings of more than $170 million annually.

Opening the proceedings yesterday, Prime Minister Helen Clark said tourism and wine had seen significant growth in recent years, and both played a crucial role in branding New Zealand in international markets.

"Like all good ideas, one can only wonder why combining these two industries in this way was never undertaken before."

Wine Institute chief executive Philip Gregan said tourism was a boon to the wine industry, because it brought people to cellar doors, which made selling easier for vignerons.

It also converted visitors to the wine of the region - "an experience they take back to their own countries, where they become ambassadors of a sort."