Feria de Valladolid will hold the sixth edition of FINE, International Wine Tourism Trade Fair, on 5 and 6 March, an event in which professionals from 26 countries will participate: wineries, hotels, wine tourism territories, tour operators and travel agencies specialising in this segment of activity.

‘FINE organises its contents in different work areas to favour the meeting between supply and demand: a contracting market where 2,200 interviews will be held, an exhibition area and a conference area where the present and future of wine tourism will be discussed’, explained the general manager of Feria de Valladolid, Alberto Alonso.

One of the new features of FINE 2025 is the 22 per cent increase in the number of tour operators and agencies attending compared to last year’s edition. In total there will be 103 professionals operating in Europe, Asia, America and Oceania; Spain, Portugal, Brazil and the United States are the markets with the largest representation.

‘Wine tourism is a highly specialised sector and FINE is the best platform for wineries, hotels and routes because every year the presence of buyers is updated, in fact, this year 56 percent are attending for the first time and the rest have attended one of the events we have held since 2020,’ said Alonso.

New national and international destinations

With regard to the offer, this year new national and international destinations have been added to FINE, such as the Slovenian region of Podravje-Maribor, located in the northeast of the country, on the border with Hungary and Croatia. It is said to be home to the oldest vineyard in the world, dating back 400 years, and the photographed ‘heart road’ that runs through vineyards.

Around 140 wineries, hotels and routes from Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and the aforementioned Slovenia are participating in FINE. All of them draw a map with more than 50 wine regions, from Ribeiro to Jerez, Algarve, Champagne, Sicily, Canary Islands or Vinhos Verdes.

Alberto Alonso recalls that ‘FINE is a national event, which helps to position Spain as a wine tourism destination’ and underlines the global nature of the event, the specialisation and professionalisation of its contents.

The global wine tourism market will continue its upward trend in the coming years and will reach a value of 332,500 million dollars by 2034, according to a study by the research company Future Market Insights. The factors driving this growth are, in its opinion, consumer demand for unique and memorable experiences linked to the history and culture of the territory.

Analysis of wine tourism

FINE’s programme also includes conferences, round tables and workshops, which this year will focus on ‘wine tourism’, the different ways of tackling its development, the challenges of the future, the risks of uniformity, etc.

The keynote address will be given by Charlotte Fougère, an expert with more than 15 years’ experience in which she has developed projects such as the transformation of the Château de Pommard into a benchmark wine tourism destination, or the creation of the Loire Volcanique wine route, to name but two examples.

Fougère will talk, among other issues, about the balance between tradition and innovation and success stories in regions such as Burgundy. After the conference, he will take part in a round table discussion with Marqués de Riscal, Ferrer Miranda, Bodega Tierra Calma and the Jerez Wine and Brandy Route to talk about the different ‘degrees of maturity’ of wine tourism.

The first day of FINE will conclude with a discussion on the wine tourism models of Spain, Italy and the Algarve region of Portugal.

What is the role of wine in wine tourism? is the title of the first round table to be held on Thursday, 6 March. The consultant Lacrima Terrae and the wineries Abadía Retuerta, Protos, Alvear and Dehesa de los Canónigos will take part.

This will be followed by ‘Arguments against uniformity’, a meeting to show the ‘different ways of doing things’ of territories or wineries, by the Maribor route, the Champagne region, the Pago de La Jaraba winery from Albacete and the Portuguese winery Arvad Wine.

The conference programme will end with ‘AI applied to the analysis of wine tourism perception’, a study carried out by Vivential Value.

Importance of travel agencies

Travel agencies play an important role in the consolidation of wine tourism in a territory and for this reason, in collaboration with the Federation of Travel Agencies of Castilla y León and Valladolid, FINE is promoting a meeting for these professionals on Wednesday 5 March.

Chelo Miñana, director of UNIR’s master’s degree in wine tourism, will give a lecture on ‘the importance of the receptive travel agency for the development of wine tourism’.

FINE is organised by Feria de Valladolid and has the support of companies and institutions such as the aforementioned Turespaña, Valladolid City Council, Valladolid Provincial Council and the Castilla y León Regional Government, as well as the wineries Abadía Retuerta, Dehesa de los Canónigos, Protos, Grupo Ferrer Miranda, Bodegas Alvear, the Spanish Wine Federation and the Spanish Confederation of Travel Agencies.