Getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city, staying at a place surrounded by vineyards and participating in outdoor activities with a maximum of comfort is always an incentive for the managerial personnel, collaborators and clients of any company. For this reason, a great number of companies have recently begun to organise meetings, congresses and incentive trips in wine producing regions. Consequently, many wineries are adapting their facilities to cash in on the new trend for wine business tourism.
One of the most recent examples is Heretat de Cesilia, one of the most important wineries of the Alicante Designation of Origin, which has just executed a wine tourism project geared to the corporate world as an alternative and a complement to the province’s wide range of tourist products.
The company’s owners have recently converted the 300-year-old Casa de Cisilia, a building located in the municipality of Novelda, into a corporate event activity centre. Set in 80 hectares of vineyards, the building has 500m2 of event facilities for conferences, congresses, conventions, seminars and ceremonies, as well as bespoke menus for business meals and gala dinners accompanied by Cisilia’s range of wines, and working breakfasts.
These activities can be combined with tours of the vineyards so as to learn about grape harvesting and wine production. As a complement to this initiative, the winery has an exquisite catering service, a multifunctional meeting room and a gourmet shop selling the company’s products.
Nevertheless, the Heretat de Cesilia initiative is not an exception to the rule, since there are wineries all over Spain that provide facilities for holding events, congresses and business meetings.
This type of wine tourism is characteristic of regions such as La Rioja, which has years of experience in the sector and whose main wineries have already adapted their facilities to the needs of the meetings and event industry.
One of the chief advantages offered by this kind of tourism is that delegates can combine work sessions with leisure activities such as wine tasting courses, golfing and adventure sports, winery tours, gourmet meals accompanied by local wines and accommodation at exclusive hotels and country houses. A pleasure to all the senses that allows to break the daily routine with leisure activities and, consequently, to work in a relaxed atmosphere.
For further information about wine tourism in Spain, please contact Viavinum.
