Easter was eagerly awaited on the Rioja Alta Wine Route. It is true that 2024 will not be remembered as one of the best, due to the fact that bad weather, rain and cold have been present practically every day and all over the country. Because of the weather, it was not as successful as the most optimistic forecasters had predicted, but it was good enough for the sector to be generally satisfied.
Nevertheless, our members admit that cancellations have not been excessive in the case of accommodation, and practically non-existent in the case of restaurants and wineries. Even so, the bad weather may have affected the latecomers, with last-minute bookings that were not made in the end.
In the case of accommodation, the occupancy rate has been around 85-90%, even reaching full capacity on the central days of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
Restaurants, for their part, are almost full to capacity, practically every day.
As for the origin of the tourism this Easter, there are few novelties with respect to previous editions, almost all of it has corresponded to national tourism and with a wide distribution between the Basque Country, Galicia, Madrid, Catalonia, Valencia… Foreign tourism has also chosen the Rioja Alta Wine Route, but with a timid representation that, in some cases, has reached 35 percent, as is the case of the Santa María Briones Hotel.
In general, business figures were very similar to those of last year and expectations were met -in most cases- or even exceeded, as in the case of Bodegas Ayagar, which acknowledged “much better” figures than the previous year, or Bodegas Montecillo, with a 30 percent increase in occupancy.
As far as the spring campaign is concerned, all the member companies have very good expectations. “We already have many reservations for spring and summer, so we hope to exceed the occupancy of other years,” said Palacio Condes de Cirac. “Yes, it is going to be a busy spring”, says Bodegas Beronia.
According to the Spanish Wine Routes Tourism Observatory Report, which confirms the full recovery of wine tourism after the pandemic. In the case of the operators of the Rioja Alta Wine Route, they have added 313,974 tourists, making it the second most visited route by wine tourists in Spain. These figures are even more favourable if we add the figures harvested by the three Wine Routes operating in the Rioja Designation of Origin: together they reach 549,737 visitors and crown our region for the first time as the main wine tourism destination in the country.
With your friends, with the family, as a couple… on the Rioja Alta Wine Route you will find temples of wine, centenary wineries, museums, routes of architectural interest, places for learning and fun… and, most importantly, a friendly and friendly service. Always, close to you.