The Future of Wine Tourism Starts in Porto
Natalia Molashkhia
The Future of Wine Tourism Starts in Porto
Wine tourism is in the middle of a profound shift. Digitalisation, sustainability and a new generation of travellers wanting deeper, more immersive experiences are rewriting the rules — and few gatherings captured that moment as clearly as the final event of the EnoTour Project, held in late May at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto.
We were proud to be part of it. Our Co-Founder & CEO, Calle Nilsson, was invited to Porto to join one of the event's international roundtables, sitting alongside academics and industry leaders from across Europe to discuss where wine tourism marketing is heading next.
THE PROJECT
What EnoTour set out to do
EnoTour is a European Erasmus+ initiative coordinated by the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, bringing together universities, VET institutions, wineries, tourism organisations and technology partners from Spain, Portugal, France and Italy. Its mission: to support the digital and sustainable transition of wine tourism through specialised training, innovative digital tools and closer collaboration between education and industry. Among its achievements are six specialised MOOCs — covering wine tourism management, sustainability, digitalisation, gastronomy and food pairing, experience design and smallwinery business management. More than 150 international students joined the pilot phase, with over 300 now taking the final courses remotely. The project also built a Self-Assessment Tool to help wineries gauge their digital maturity, and a Virtual Experience Tool that lets wineries craft immersive 360° and multimedia stories for visitors before, during and after a visit.
THE GATHERING
Nearly 100 minds, one room
Held in collaboration with the OENOVITI International Network, the final dissemination event gathered close to 100 participants — academics, wineries, tourism professionals, researchers and international stakeholders — to debate the challenges and future trends of wine tourism, digitalisation and sustainability. The programme paired presentations of the project's main outcomes with international roundtables and expert sessions on global wine tourism trends.
ROUNDTABLE I
The Twin Transition in Wine Tourism
The first roundtable tackled the Twin Transition — how the digital and green transitions are jointly reshaping the sector's future. Moderated by Matteo Marangon (Università degli Studi di Padova), the panel explored artificial intelligence and digital innovation, sustainability across the value chain, and the changing expectations of today's wine traveller.
ON THE PANEL
Adrian Bridge — CEO, The Fladgate Partnership & founder of the Porto Protocol
Nashidil Rouiai — Associate Professor, cultural geography & wine tourism
Laia Morales — CEO, Bexperience
Vladi Finotto — Associate Professor, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
ROUNDTABLE II
The Digital Marketing of Wine Tourism
The second roundtable — the one our CEO joined — turned to digital marketing and the role of digital communication in strengthening wine tourism destinations and visitor engagement. Moderated by Noemí Rabassa (Universitat Rovira i Virgili), the session explored storytelling and social media strategies, visitor behaviour analysis, digital customer engagement and the emerging trends defining wine tourism marketing.
ON THE PANEL
Pedro Lopes — Marketing & digitalisation, Grande Porto, S.A.
Claire Lamoureux — Lecturer-researcher, Bordeaux Sciences Agro
Calle Nilsson — Co-Founder & CEO, winetourism.com
BEYOND THE PANELS
Catching up with partners and friends
An event like this is about more than the sessions on stage. Between roundtables, Calle took the chance to reconnect with partners, collaborators and friends from across the European wine tourism community — the kind of in-person catch-ups that keep the network strong and spark the next round of ideas. It's a reminder that, even in an industry going increasingly digital, the best connections still happen face to face.
The future of wine tourism will be more digital, more sustainable and more collaborative — and that future is already arriving.
That was the throughline across both days. The most exciting opportunities are opening up for the small and medium-sized wineries willing to embrace digital storytelling and sustainable practice — exactly the producers we work with every day. Beyond the panels, the event offered something just as valuable: time to connect, share and build the cross-border relationships that move the whole sector forward.
Discover wine tourism, the modern way winetourism.com connects travellers with thousands of wineries across the world — and helps wineries reach a global audience. Explore the platform or learn more about the EnoTour Project. Explore winetourism.com
Written by
