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Wine tourism in Spain and on the Rioja Alta Wine Route is in luck. This is the result of the 15th Annual Report on Visits to Wineries and Wine Museums associated with the Wine Routes of Spain product club, which confirms the rapid recovery of wine tourism. Specifically, an increase of 51.59% compared to the previous study (2021) and a recovery of 80.85% compared to the visitor figures recorded in the last pre-pandemic report.
For the Rioja Alta Wine Route this report is especially relevant, as it endorses our quality offer and places us among the three most visited Wine Routes in Spain during 2022. Together with Marco de Jerez and Ribera del Duero, we hold the privilege of occupying the podium in the number of visitors. Specifically, Ruta del Vino Rioja Alta is in second place, with a total of 313,974 visitors, very close to the most visited, Ruta del Vino y el Brandy del Marco de Jerez, with 333,781 visitors, and distancing itself from the third, Ruta del Vino Ribera del Duero, with 281,918 visitors.
The routes with the highest number of visits to wineries are Marco de Jerez (299,823), Rioja Alta (282,954), Penedès (274,445), Rioja Alavesa (221,487), Ribera del Duero (208,016) and Rías Baixas (101. 172); while those with the highest number of visits to museums are Calatayud (225,393), Ribera del Duero (73,902), Arlanza (71,209), Garnacha (51,825), Madrid (41,865) and Marco de Jerez (33,958).
In overall numbers, the total number of visitors to the wineries and wine museums associated with the Wine Routes of Spain in 2022 was 2,487,255, compared to 1,640,800 in 2021. The increase in visits has also led to an increase in the economic impact of the tourist activity associated with these two agents (wineries and wine museums). Thus, the economic impact of these visits now stands at 75,481,646 euros, 39.04% higher than the income recorded in 2021 and just over 12% short of the 2019 figures.
With regard to this economic impact, it should be remembered that the figure provided in this report only refers to wineries and museums, the two establishments to which a visit motivated by a purely enotourist interest can be objectively attributed. To this should be added that corresponding to other expenses at the destination related to other establishments that also form part of the Wine Routes of Spain, such as accommodation, restaurants or activity companies, so that the total impact would be much greater. A rough estimate would lead us to say that the global economic impact represented by the wine tourism of the 36 Wine Routes of Spain would be three times the figure registered in wineries and museums.
Based on these data, we can affirm that wine tourism is one of the key ways to boost the economy of wine-growing areas, being a product that, under the focus of sustainability, allows to create employment, innovate and maintain population.
The full report, prepared by the Spanish Wine Routes Tourism Observatory, is available on the web site https://wineroutesofspain.com/
More international wine tourists
The data of this new Report show that the national visitor continues to prevail, representing slightly more than 80% of all visits, but if the previous Report on Visitors to Wineries and Museums of the Wine Routes of Spain reflected the return of international tourists to the destinations of our country, the 2022 Report confirms this fact and reflects an increase in the percentage of wine tourists from international origin, reaching 20.4% compared to 15.14% of the previous year, the 2022 report confirms this fact and reflects an increase in the percentage of wine tourists of international origin of just over 5%, reaching 20.4% compared to 15.14% the previous year, quite close to the percentage it represented before the pandemic, which was around 25%.
As for the distribution of visits throughout the year, also covered in this study, October is once again the month with the highest number of visits to wineries and museums, coinciding in general with the grape harvest season. August occupies second place in this ranking, from which we can draw a highly positive reading because, despite being the month in which most of the population continues to take their holidays and where coastal and beach destinations prevail, the fact that wine tourism offers such high figures in this period shows that it is no longer a complementary activity to other types of tourism but rather a consolidated product, with a permanent entity. This, together with the fact that it continues to be seasonally adjusted, makes it one of the most attractive and stable types of tourism in the sector.
