Portugal is the fifth European country with the largest area of vineyards planted and the ninth in the world. However, it is the second largest wine tourism destination in the world, surpassed only by Italy, and ahead of countries such as Spain, France, New Zealand, Argentina or Australia, among others. A market that is expected to grow from nearly USD 9 billion generated in 2020 worldwide to nearly USD 30 billion in 2030. If the current weight of the sector is maintained, Portugal can raise around EUR 2.1 billion.
This value is an estimate of the Portuguese Association of Enotourism (APENO) and that part of the index score of 7.88 applied to Portugal in the study “Enotourism – National and European Dimension, 2022”, by Turismo de Portugal, placing the country second in the top 10 worldwide in this sector. Italy has one index score of 8.28, which, according to APENO’s logic, means that of the nearly nine billion dollars generated by wine tourism in 2020, Italian operators contributed 745 million and Portugal almost 700 million.
The lack of reliable data is one of the problems of the sector which, since 2020, the year of its creation, has been fighting for the creation of a sub CAE (Portuguese Classification of Economic Activities), in statistical terms, for wine tourism. In vain. And recent efforts at the National Institute of Statistics, as part of the review process of said classification, have proved unsuccessful.
legal opinion
INE justifies the “impossibility of accepting” the APENO proposal because, in the wine tourism sector, “like other sectors in the tourism area, different activities coexist, classified in different sections of the CAE, a situation that violates the rules of construction and application of the classification”. However, the association has issued a legal opinion, the responsibility of Abreu Advogados, who believes that the INE decision “violates the principle of equality by treating wine tourism activities in an unequal/unfavorable way, unlike the activities of tourist animation and with tourism in rural areas”, also points out that the interpretation of the Statistical Institute of Decree-Law 381/2007 of 14 November “shows that it is contrary to the objectives pursued” by Community Regulation 1893/2006, insofar as “it is for Portugal in the wine tourism sector is made impossible to prepare “reliable statistical data” “in response to national needs”.
Although the issue has not been resolved, the major wine producers continue to set up tourism entertainment companies to fit into the wine tourism activities. APENO – which currently has 110 members, which Luís Sá Souto, vice president of the association, guarantees “70% of the wine sector” – fears that this change will “lose even more control” over the sector’s data.
All information has already been sent to the new Secretary of State for Tourism, Nuno Fazenda, and a meeting has been requested with the new President of Turismo de Portugal, Carlos Abade. “We are going to try in every possible way. We have to achieve something. If it is not the sub-CAE, at least the National Registry of Wine Tourism Companies will be established, like what exists for tourism animation agents,” defends Luis Sa souto.
Bacalhôa group
With more than 1200 hectares of vineyards and a consolidated turnover of 50 million euros in 2022, the Bacalhôa group receives more than 400 thousand visitors annually in its wine cellars, museums and wine shops in Alentejo, on the Setúbal peninsula and in Bairrada , and created at the end of last year Bacalhôa Enoturismo, SA. Paulo Costa, the group’s director, does not specify how much this business area is worth, but guarantees that it makes a “very expressive contribution”.
“Our main difficulty is the lack of information and that led us to segment the company. It is a profitable business with great potential, but it is very difficult to plan anything without data,” he defends. This is an activity that has “grown”, with “positive implications” in the regions where it operates. 2022 was “the best year ever” and this year will be the same.
Parras group
In the case of the Parras group, owner of Quinta do Gradil, a property with seven centuries of history next to Cadaval, Parras Eventos was created in 2015, “not only for tax reasons, but also to control the activity”, explains manager Luís out. Scallop.
With a century palace. XVIII on site and recovered in 2018, in a global investment of more than one million euros, the group receives about 15 thousand visitors a year, either in the many corporate events it organizes, or for tastings, picnics or various wine experiences . Wine tourism accounts for about 10% of the group’s total turnover – which is also present in the Alentejo, with Herdade da Candeeira, where it is starting to take its first steps in welcoming tourists -, in the order of 50 million euros.
In addition to the Portuguese, Quinta do Gradil is arousing great interest among American, French and Brazilian customers. “This is a growing activity. Tourists identify Portugal with wine and good food and take the opportunity to learn more about Portuguese wines. And the proximity to Lisbon is an advantage,” he emphasizes.
stepmother
Sogrape, the largest national wine group, has more than five decades of experience in the wine tourism sector, very focused on port wine. Each year, the group receives about 200,000 visitors in Caves Ferreira and Caves Sandeman, in Vila Nova de Gaia, and in Quinta do Seixo, in the Douro, with a varied offer, from traditional tastings and pairings to picnics in the vineyard or vintage programs .
Sogrape wine tourism, developed for more than 10 years by Grape Ideas – Turismo, Comércio e Serviços, SA, is worth six million euros in a group that has more than 1600 hectares of vineyards spread over 12 wine regions in five countries – Portugal , Spain, Chile, Argentina and New Zealand – and earned 347 million euros in 2022.
In Portugal alone, the group has 980 hectares of vineyards spread across Vinhos Verdes, Douro, Dão, Bucelas, Alentejo and the island of Madeira, with new developments in preparation. “We have planned significant investments in this area [enoturismo], although no values have been determined yet. We are talking about the possible opening of other companies, to be determined, in different regions where Sogrape is present,” says Pedro Sottomayor, responsible for this business area within the group.
Worldwide wines
Global Wines is also preparing investments in its three poles – Quinta de Cabriz, in Carregal do Sal, Quinta do Encontro, in Anadia, and Casa de Santar, in Nelas – with a special emphasis on the latter where they wine centre with a shopping offer, experiences in the vineyard and gastronomy, as well as a small charming hotel “which will allow an experience closer to life in the wine-growing environment”, explains the company’s CEO.
Wine tourism is “a strategic activity” of Global Wines – developed by a specific company for this purpose, 1990 Wine and Tourism -, “with a fantastic potential to generate wealth and jobs, thus improving wine-growing regions,” says Manuel Pine. It represents about two million euros in annual turnover, growing at double digits and “is already well above the forecast for 2023”.
Ilídia Pinto is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
