Tag: #UN #WineTourism

Charting the Future of Global Wine Tourism

Wine tourism has experienced remarkable growth over the past decade, establishing itself as a profitable and dynamic sector of the global wine industry. As a driver of sustainable development, it also plays an important role in rural development, job creation, and the direct empowerment of local communities.

Despite its growing importance, both science and practice continue to face challenges due to a lack of reliable data and sound evidence. At the international level, a significant information gap exists in the field of wine tourism, making it challenging for policymakers and the industry to develop evidence-based strategies and business models.

To address this need, Geisenheim University, together with UN Tourism, the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV), the Great Wine Capitals Global Network (GWC), and WineTourism.com, has launched a global research initiative. Based on an annual international survey, this initiative provides current data and insights on wine tourism.

“Our shared goal is to provide wineries and tourism organizations with directly actionable insights through an annual report. This year’s survey focuses on innovations and emerging trends that have recently fundamentally changed the wine tourism experience,” emphasizes the initiator of the cooperation, Prof. Dr. Gergely Szolnoki, Geisenheim University.

The strength of this initiative lies in the collaboration between international organizations, academic institutions and industry representatives – a unique cooperation that combines diverse expertise and global perspectives.

The results of the study will be published as an open-access report and simultaneously presented at various events, including the UN Tourism Wine Tourism Conference in Bulgaria from 6 to 7 October 2025 and the Great Wine Capitals Annual Conference in Bordeaux from 2 to 6 November 2025.

Wineries across the globe are encouraged to participate in this survey, as their contribution is vital to developing a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of global wine tourism.

Link to the study:   https://www.soscisurvey.de/winetourism2025/

Tourism Makes History as 50+ Countries Sign Climate Action Declaration

Over 50 governments signed a UN declaration to make tourism more climate-friendly, in what is hailed as a major achievement of the climate summit in Azerbaijan.

Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili states:

“For the first time, the Action Agenda of the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties has included tourism. The First Ministerial Meeting on Enhanced Climate Action in Tourism marks a turning point, when ambition meets action, and vision transforms into commitment. At COP29, the global tourism sector made clear its commitment to positive transformation for a better future for our planet.”

“At COP29 we have achieved today an historic milestone by being included in the UN Climate Change Conference Action Agenda for the first time,” U.N. Executive Director for Tourism Zoritsa Urosevic further states.

The countries that signed the declaration on Enhanced Climate Action on Tourism have pledged to recognize the need to address tourism when drafting climate plans, such as their Nationally Determined Contributions. The next update of NDCs, in which governments describe policies to reduce emissions that cause global warming, are due in February.

The declaration was also accompanied by a number of other initiatives, such as a framework presented by hotel industry body World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, aimed at measuring and reporting data such as greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste and energy usage across the sector.

“The collated data would help the tourism industry and travellers understand their impact” said CEO Glenn Mandziuk.

“We are an industry that has a vested interest in the protection of each destination,” Mandziuk said on the sidelines of the meeting in Baku. “We have to have a conversation where we can play a bigger role.”