Category: Wine Economics

Announcing Liz Palmer is Guest Speaker at the 7th UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism

I’m so thrilled to have been invited as a guest speaker at the upcoming 7th UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism!!

The topics for the 7th Edition include “Inclusive, Sustainable and Digital Wine Tourism: Building Stronger Territorial Cohesion”

This yearly conference has become a leading international forum on trends, tools and opportunities to advance global wine tourism. It also provides opportunities for experts and professionals, as well as consolidated and emerging destinations in this tourism segment to exchange knowledge and experiences.

Since 2016, the Conference has highlighted the importance of wine tourism to the socio-economic development of destinations and has served as a platform to exchange experiences, identify good practices and promote wine tourism as a tool for sustainable development.

The 7th UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism will be held November 22 – 24 in Logroño, Spain. Participants include government officials from international and national tourism administrations and organizations, regional and local authorities, international and national destination marketing organizations, UNWTO affiliate members, private sector representatives, wine estates, infrastructure providers and international academia.

I believe everyone in the wine tourism industry can certainly attest to Massimo Garavaglia, Italian Minister of Tourism, statement at last year’s conference, in Alba Italy: “Wine tourism is much more than just selling wine, which clearly is important.  When you sell a bottle of wine, you are selling the territory behind that bottle, the culture of that territory, the history of the men (and women) who designed these landscapes with the rows of vines.”

I have the extreme privilege of sharing insights on the topic of:

Unlocking the Benefits of Digitalization
Digital transformation can revolutionize and enhance wine tourism experiences, provide data and insights, optimize marketing strategies, and foster sustainable growth.

Conference Link: https://www.unwto.org/7-UNWTO-Global-Conference-Wine-Tourism

Hope to see you there!

Liz Palmer

 

50% of UK Millennials Perceive Drinking and Dining as Essential Spending

Design My Night has just released the results of its city survey, with this year’s focus being on affordability.

The results show that a large proportion (83%) of participants have changed their spending habits due to the cost-of-living crisis.

However, 50% of millennials who completed the survey view drinking and dining as essential spending. The survey also shows 46% of respondents would happily spend £60 on a meal.

When asked what event people would most likely splash out on, birthdays came up as the clear winner, with 85% stating they would happily spend more for this occasion.

Katie Kirwan, head of brand and B2C at Design My Night, states: “The going may be tough right now, but going out remains important to our audience across all price points. While we’ve seen that a demand for affordability is propping up the industry, quality of spending is equally as important, and people aren’t willing to sacrifice their money for the mediocre. Hospitality’s run of it post-covid has been difficult, but our consumer survey has shown that shared experiences are still there to be catered to, and that with over 50% of millennials seeing drinking and dining as a necessity, a cost of living crisis isn’t going to hold the industry back.”

 

US Adults 55+ are drinking more alcohol according to research

The percentages of 18 to 34-year-olds, who report that they either don’t drink, drank the past week, or sometimes drank more than they should, are all lower than they were 20 years ago, according to research conducted by American analytics company Gallup.

Yet, drinking on all three metrics has trended up among Americans 55 and over, while holding fairly steady among middle-aged adults.

These results were based on an analysis of Gallup trends on Americans’ self-reports of their alcohol drinking habits. To allow for reliable analysis of the trends by age, the data was reviewed in three three-year time periods: 2001-2003, 2011-2013 and 2021-2023.

  • Adults under the age of 35, 62% reported that they drink alcohol, down from 72% two decades ago; and
  • Drinking has increased among adults aged 55 and older, from 49% to 59% in the same 20-year period.

This shows that drinking habits among younger adults may be on a downward trend, while the opposite can be said of people 55+. According to the research, there are still more drinkers under the age of 35 (62%) than in the 55 and over category (59%).

While these groups on either end of the age spectrum now report similar drinking rates, those in the middle, aged 35 to 54, maintain a higher drinking rate, at 69%, on par with the prior 67% readings for this age group.

The same trend can be seen among those classed as regular drinkers. Younger adults who drink are less likely than they were in the past to say they had an alcoholic drink within the past seven days, down from 67% to 61% over the last two decades. Older adults, aged 55 and over, have done the opposite, with figures rising from 63% to 69%.

Among all Americans (both drinkers and nondrinkers), fewer than four in 10 young adults (38%) now appear to be regular drinkers, on par with older adults (40%) with middle-aged adults (48%) more likely.

Research Results:  https://news.gallup.com/poll/509501/six-americans-drink-alcohol.aspx

European Commission sets out the continent’s first soil law

Amid intense opposition to proposed laws on nature restoration and curbs on pesticides, the European Commission put forward proposals [the continent’s first soil law] in Brussels last week to revive degraded soils. Research indicates that this could help absorb carbon from the atmosphere and ensure sustainable food production.

The new law would see Member States monitor the health of soils, fertilizer use and erosion, but stops short of country-level targets for improving soil quality. This drew criticism from the European agri-food industry, which called for more ambition to improve the “worrying” state of soils.

The EU estimates at least 61% of the bloc’s soil is unhealthy, driven by factors including degradation of peatlands and intensive fertilizer use.

EU environment commissioner, Virginijus Sinkevičius states:

“If our soils continue to degrade, the biggest risk is to our food security and farmers. Basically, their business model is wiped out,” he said. “I can hardly imagine how we could do agriculture without fertile soils. The worst effects of droughts and floods can be avoided with healthier soils.”

The new law would not have legally binding targets, although “We are opening the way to additional income opportunities for farmers and landowners through a voluntary certification scheme for soil health and strong synergies with carbon farming and payments for ecosystem services,” Sinkevičius states.

One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B), the main representative of the European agri-food industry in Brussels, said the proposals did not go far enough. “The EU needs to go further to tackle the trend of deteriorating soil health in Europe,” said director Stefania Avanzini.

The European Commission is calling on Member States and the European Parliament to raise the ambition of the proposal. “We very much value the importance the commission gives to agriculture and its central role in the management of soil,” Avanzini said.

 

Demand for New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc causes strong export growth

Soaring demand for New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc allowed the country’s wine producers to increase exports by 25% in the past year.

Strong export value and increasing international demand will help support further export growth over the next 12 months, despite a challenging season and a smaller harvest than last year, reports New Zealand Winegrowers.

The total value of the New Zealand wine industry exports (year to May 2023) was $2.4 billion, up 25% on 2022.

“Reaching another new record level of wine exports into some of the world’s largest and most competitive markets is an outstanding achievement for New Zealand wine exporters, and testifies to the increasingly strong global demand for our wines,” says Philip Gregan, CEO of New Zealand Winegrowers.

“New Zealand wine, particularly Sauvignon Blanc, is going from strength to strength in the USA, as consumers appreciate the distinctive flavours, commitment to quality, and know it is a unique product that they can trust.”

This year’s vintage will help the industry to meet increasing international demand, and consumers can look forward to some exceptional 2023 New Zealand wines. Nationally, harvest was down 6% on the record level 2022 vintage

The largest export markets are the United States, the UK and Australia, which account for the bulk of sales.