International event to focus on wine’s role in global tourism recovery
(September 22, 2022) – Sonoma wine-tourism author and Sonoma Sustainable Tourism founder Pamela Lanier spoke this week on the subject of innovation and wine tourism in the post-COVID era at the 6th UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism, in Alba, Italy.
Lanier was invited as the North American representative on a panel of six leading voices in wine-tourism from around the world. Other regions represented included France, Spain, Italy, Chile, and the United Kingdom.
“Wine and tourism intersect as the economic pillars of the Sonoma region,” Lanier stated. “Our wineries consistently lead in innovations in production, marketing and the wine-tourism consumer experience. Our work at the Sonoma Observatory can offer powerful examples of knowledge, actions, and insights in sustainable tourism.”
“This was especially true during the last two years, when Sonoma winemakers were forced to reinvent wine-club and wine-tasting experiences to survive and discovered new distribution channels online and unexpected ways to build partnerships that allowed them to thrive.”
The 6th UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism is part of the UNTWO’s work advancing tourism at the center of plans for recovery, under the theme ‘What’s next? Wine pairs with Innovation…’. It represents a unique opportunity for experts from across the growing field of wine tourism to work together to find concrete solutions to build back better and make tourism an enabler of the way forward to a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient future for rural communities.
In 2017, Sonoma Sustainable Tourism Observatory became an accredited member of UN World Tourism Organization’s International Network of Observatories focusing on areas such as the ongoing and recurring drought conditions, climate change responsiveness and resilience, and the ways in which state parks can connect communities.
At last summer’s IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille France, the Observatory team worked with colleagues to pass Motion 130, Strengthening sustainable tourism’s role in biodiversity conservation and community resilience.
