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2023-2027BC WINE TOURISM STRATEGY
LOCAL WINE, LOCAL IMPACTFor millennia wine has been at the center of celebrations, entertainment, cultural identity, and ritual. Wine has been and remains connected to the land where grapes are grown. Today we see wine and land being beautifully paired to create exceptional experiences throughout British Columbia.Infused with rich history and tradition, wine provides an authentic and unique experience connected to place and terroir. Increasingly travelers are interested in experiencing a destination through local avours by sipping and sampling an abundance of fresh, homegrown ingredients that are in-season and steeped in local culture. The stories behind the producer, the land, and the process are unique and authentic, creating an experience tied to place that cannot be recreated elsewhere. These experiences go beyond simply enjoying the wine in front of you. It is about knowing the ingredients are grown and harvested in place. Not only is there comfort and pride in knowing that enjoying local fare carries a smaller ecological footprint and encourages sustainable agricultural practices, but that the local community directly benets from others who savour and explore the area through wine.British Columbia offers a world-class variety of niche regions where BC’s roots can be explored through local wine. Enthusiasts can enjoy the high-quality, homegrown BC ingredients in idyllic settings that tantalize all the senses. With an array of award-winning wineries and restaurants, there is endless diversity of opportunity to indulging the taste buds in a remarkable setting.This strategy sets the path for wine tourism for the next ve years. It describes how core traveller audiences will be specically targeted to come more often and explore more places in spring, summer and fall seasons. It will leverage wine and food to support each other. This will be accomplished by building and nurturing partnerships across the wine and culinary sectors. There is a signicant need to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and we cannot assume that Wine Tourism will recover on its own. We must ensure that the industry stays relevant and continues to grow. To fully realize the benets of wine tourism, we must continue making dedicated investments into the marketing required to propel the industry forward as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.In 2019, wine tourism provided in excess of $609 million of tourism-related revenue, $174.7 million of tourism-related wages and more than 3,900 jobs. With an annual investment of $2,000,000 over the next four years, we will create an incremental revenue of $174 million by year four, or an impact of $399.4 million accumulated over a four-year period. In addition, an average of 641 jobs will be created each year. These impacts are distributed across BC largely in rural regions, providing them with essential economic drivers to support their communities and recover economically from the COVID-19 pandemic.Our vision of long-term success also includes alignment with the Destination BC (DBC) Invest in Iconics Strategy. This is a key pillar in the 2020-23 DBC Corporate Strategy that will be developed over the next 10 years. Like DBC, we see dispersion as key to the health of tourism and the prosperity of our province. In our Wine Tourism Strategy, we will encourage visitors to travel to more places in BC and across more times of the year. This strategy will motivate travellers to come to BC, taste our premium wines and local foods, and take home stories that inspire them, and others, to return.WINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 1WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
GLOBAL BEST PRACTICESA global scan was conducted, with a focus primarily on the US, Australia and New Zealand. Three key trends emerged.URGENCY TO CONVERT YOUNGER AUDIENCESThose younger than 40 years of age are the likely place where the wine industry, including tourism, will nd growth in the next decade. One of the reasons that wine is losing share has to do with consumer change and the wine industry’s inability to recognize or adapt to meet this younger audience. There is a call (especially in the US) to convert this audience to wine—and wine tourism may be the best platform to do this. It’s recommended that messaging be created specically for this audience that better aligns with their values and spending patterns. This audience is more health conscious, has lower discretionary income and wealth, a greater concern for sustainability and environmental issues, and are more ethnically diverse than previous generations. They are looking for authentic experiences.PREFERENCE FOR INTIMATE & PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCESDue to the COVID-19 pandemic, wine tastings were primarily offered by-appointment only and outdoor spaces and experiences were emphasized. This created a change in visitor preferences. Globally, we are seeing a continual shift towards creating more intimate, interactive, and personalized wine experiences. Visitors are less interested in participating in large group tours and overcrowded, impersonal tasting rooms and, instead, now prefer more curated experiences for small groups. Not only does this make wine tourism more down to earth, it creates a more meaningful and intentional connection between the winery and visitor. PREMIUMIZATION IS CONTINUINGIn contrast to the above trend, is the continued preference for premium wines—especially amongst the older consumers. Those who drink wine continue to show that they prefer drinking better but less wine. Wine Australia understands this trend and has centered one of its strategic pillars around building a “ne wine” brand.WINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 2WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
PAST SUCCESSESBC WINE & FOOD TOURISM STRATEGY 2016 - 2019In BC, both wine and culinary tourism had been promoted as part of destination marketing, but there had not been an integrated strategy to promote the combined offering. The 2016-2019 strategy was designed to support all wine regions in the province, from the established to the emerging, with distinct strategies and tactics to promote each one.The plan revolved around a core goal to grow hotel revenues and winery-direct sales by “inviting Gentle Explorers to nd a new wine story somewhere in BC.”In wine-primary regions like the Okanagan Valley, the strategy placed greater emphasis on extending the wine touring season by expanding into the shoulder seasons. In other regions, efforts were focused on growing visitation in peak season. Overall, the strategy focused on encouraging visitors to extend their stay so that they can expand their wine and culinary tourism experience by visiting additional areas within the region(s).Marketing initiatives were aligned to six key strategies:1. Elevate the stature of wine tourism in BritishColumbia.2. Move visitors around the different regions.3. Support and promote wine and culinary visitoradvocacy, particularly online.4. Partner with destination Marketing Organizationsto execute marketing initiatives.5. Build a data-driven strategy to supportmeasurement and marketing.6. Identify gaps in wine & culinary tourism product.PERFORMANCEIn 2015-2019, three key marketing success were achieved:• Increasing winery direct litre sales by an averageof 11.4% annually from 2018-2021.• Achieving a 30:1 return in advertising equivalencyon unpaid media coverage in 2021.• Increasing Wine and Food Tourism digitalengagement by 25% in 2021.More recently, COVID-19 response marketing has continued to support wineries around the province, both as a resource and through marketing:• Acting as a hub for members to shareinformation and set standards of practice formanaging COVID-19.• Developing a wildre and smoke communicationstoolkit for members.This provides a strong foundation on which the 2023-2027 strategy is being built.WINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 3WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
BC WINE TOURISM STRATEGY 2023-2027 GOALSGROWTHSustaining demand for wine tourism requires creating demand. As the new generation of wine drinkers are not necessarily as focused on wine tourism experiences, investment in this audience is required. New visitors will also help ll hotels and tasting rooms outside of peak seasons.• In summer, focus outside the OkanaganValley.• In shoulder seasons, focus on all regions.DISPERSIONDispersion will create a more robust wine sector. Increasing the diversity of timing, locations and patrons will insulate the sector against regional shocks (e.g., shifts in climate, natural disasters) and demographic shifts (changing consumer values and tastes).Dispersion also acts in service of overall growth for the sector by moving tourism to seasons, regions and audiences that have capacity to absorb tourism growth.Three dimensions of tourism will be addressed:• Disperse wine tourists across seasons, with afocus on strengthening the shoulder seasons inMay, June and October.• Disperse wine tourists to all wine touring regionsin the province.• Disperse wine tourism across audiences.WINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 4WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONAn annual $2,000,000 investment in BC Wine Tourism Marketing will generate 57,500 new visitors per year with an increase of $55.5 million in new direct tourism revenue, plus an additional $87.2 million of indirect spending and an average of 641 tourism-related jobs.Value of a new wine tourist:TARGET TYPE AVG. VALUENew short stays (1-2 days) $451New long stays (3+ days) $1,1461-day extension to short stay $3031-day extension to long stay $222SOURCE OF GROWTH TOURISTS IMPACTANTICIPATED DIRECT REVENUE IMPACTANTICIPATED TOTAL REVENUE IMPACT30,000 new short stays in Early Season 30,000 $13.5 million $21.2 million10,000 new long stays in Early Season10,000$11.5 million $18.0 million39,000 extended short stays during Early Season- $9.6 million $15.0 million17,500 new short stays in Peak Season 17,500$11.5 million$18.0 million35,000 new long stays in Peak Season- $9.5 million$14.9 millionCumulative Impact57,500$55.6 million $87.1 millionSource: Cascadia Partners, Achieving Tourism Growth Targets, June 2022TARGET TYPE AVG. VALUENew short stays (1-2 days) $656New long stays (3+ days) $1,3401-day extension to short stay $3531-day extension to long stay $239Source of growth: PEAK SEASON (JULY - SEPTEMBER)EARLY SEASON (APRIL - JUNE)WINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 5WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
TARGET AUDIENCESENGAGED EXPLORERSThis is the primary audience for wine touring• Engaged Explorers are between the ages of 39and 54 years.• The largest segment of regular wine drinkers inCanada – 29% by 2025.• Wine is important to their lifestyle and, as aresult, are willing to invest their time and money.• Condent wine drinkers and enjoy discoveringnew wine.• The most involved within the wine category anddrink frequently.• Wine tourism activity levels are signicantlyhigher than those of the other segments.• Spend the most time on social media andparticipate in social networks and apps regardingwine.• Most likely to have older children living at home(able to be left alone).ENTHUSIASTIC LEARNERSThis is the secondary audience for wine touring as they need to be developed to support the industry long-term.• Millennials between the ages of 26 and 38 years.• Due to their limited nancial capacity, apreference for premium spirits and craft beers,delayed careers, negative health messagingregarding alcohol, and the legalization ofcannabis, this segment has temporarily stalled ingrowing their wine consumption. Leveraging thelocal angle position is highly attractive for thisgroup.• By 2025, this group will account for 27% ofregular wine drinkers in Canada.• Open to unfamiliar or new wines and wine styles.Less interested in domestic wines and moreenthralled by new regions.• Lead the way in purchasing sustainable andenvironmentally friendly wines and are willing topay more for those.• Most likely to be encumbered by young childrenwhen travelling.MATURE MAINSTREAMERSThis is the tertiary audience for wine touring as they are an established audience with less desire to explore new wineries.• Baby boomers between the ages of 55 and 73years.• Frequent wine drinkers who enjoy drinking wineat home in the evening with a meal.• Because of their experience, they feel competentin their wine knowledge.• They are the least likely of the segments toexperiment and try new wines, preferring to stickwith their favourites.• They are well-off, but budget conscious.• While they are budget-oriented, they are willingto pay more for better quality wines.• They prefer domestic wines, and they purchasewine based on recommendations by a critic or awine column.• They participate in wine tourism but preferstaying at a luxury hotel and only visiting one ortwo of their favourite wineries.WINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 6WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
STRATEGIC FOCUS BY SEASONOne of the challenges faced by the wine tourism sector is the inherent seasonality. This can be addressed by targeting different segments in different seasons as each target audience has different desires and constraints for travel.Four factors drive seasonality:• The school year for those with children• Weather• Climate events (smoke, heat dome)• CrowdsBy attening the demand curve and not marketing when there is limited capacity, we will ensure that wine tourism’s social license will endure.MATURE MAINSTREAMERSENGAGED EXPLORERSVISITATION TO THE OKANAGAN VALLEYENTHUSIASTIC LEARNERSMAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCTWINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 7WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
VISITOR IMPACT BY TRAVELLER AUDIENCEThe wealth, free time, and lack of seasonal constraints make Engaged Explorers the highest priority target for WGBC. Although there is still potential to grow visitors in the summer peak, most growth from this segment should come from the shoulder season. Without school-aged children, these working professionals will nd it easy to escape to wine country for a couple days (short trip), but work obligations are a barrier to extended stays. This segment is the best investment for near and medium term revenue as it includes consumers at the peak of their wine consumption.Despite making up the majority of visitors to the Thompson-Okanagan during the peak season of July and August, Enthusiastic Learners provide comparatively little value as wine tourists. They are not yet enthusiastic drinkers of wine and, with children in tow, are unlikely to visit many wineries on their trips to wine regions. Enthusiastic Learners, represent the long term future of wine tourism. These millennials already love to visit wine regions, but do not nd wine experiences that match their values and lifestyle. Product development will be key to growing wine tourism from this segment over the long term.Similar to Engaged Explorers, Mature Mainstreamers have the wealth and free time to be active wine tourists. Often retired or partially retired, these visitors will often have extended stays in wine regions. Without children in tow and with reduced or absent work obligations, Mature Mainstreamers offer an excellent opportunity to grow shoulder season visitation. This segment is strong for near-term revenue, but are past their peak travel and wine consumption years. Each Mature Mainstreamer converted to wine touring will tend to tour and consume less rather than more as the years go by.WINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 8WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
ECONOMIC IMPACT BY TRAVELLER AUDIENCEOVERALL IMPACTThe overall economic impact from new trips and trip extensions is distributed across types of travellers, with different travellers offering opportunities for growth in different seasons. Overall, nearly half of growth will come from Engaged Explorers, spread across both new visits and extended stays. Enthusiastic Learners and Mature Mainstreamers however will see growth from different sources, with Enthusiastic learners primarily extending trips and Mature Mainstreamers increasing the frequency of trips.CHANGING BEHAVIOURIn addition to extending the stays of some visitors, we expect this plan to also change visitors’ behaviour during those stays: increasing the share of their trips they spend wine touring. Although difcult to quantify, substituting wine touring for less expensive activities such as hiking, biking and visiting beaches will increase visitors’ overall spend. This shift in behaviour is particularly desirable among Enthusiastic Learners who are frequent visitors to wine regions but visit wineries at lower rates than older travellers.ENGAGED EXPLORERSENTHUSIASTIC LEARNERSMATURE MAINSTREAMERSTotal anticipated direct revenue impact$24.5 million $16.1 million $15.0 millionENGAGED EXPLORERSENTHUSIASTIC LEARNERSMATURE MAINSTREAMERSShoulder season short stays 20,000 - 10,000Shoulder season long stays 4,000 - 6,000Peak season short stays 5,500 6,000 -Peak season long stays - 3,000 -Cumulative tourists impact 29,500 9,000 16,000Anticipated direct revenue impact$17.2 million $8.0 million $11.4 millionENGAGED EXPLORERSENTHUSIASTIC LEARNERSMATURE MAINSTREAMERSShoulder season extended stays24,000 - 15,000Peak season extended stays5,000 30,000 -Cumulative Extended Stays 29,000 30,000 15,000Peak season long stays - 3,000 -Cumulative tourists impact 29,500 9,000 16,000Anticipated direct revenue impact$17.3 million $8.1 million $3.7 millionOVERALL ECONOMIC IMPACTNEW TRIPSEXTENDED TRIPSWINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 9WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
1. Statistics Canada’s National Travel Survey, 2019 (day trips excluded).2. PRISM MobileSpaes data provided by Destination BC, AB and BC Visitors only, (local FSAs excluded)Visitors to BC Wineries, 2020 & 20212ThompsonOkanagan70%20%REGIONAL TARGETINGThere can be significant differences in the potential for source markets to provide growth. Data from Destination BC is being compiled to conduct this analysis and make geographic focus recommendations. Province level data is shown below, with regional and postal-code level data to follow by late summer this year.Initial results show that Albertans visited Thompson-Okanagan wineries at significantly higher rates than their overall visitation to the Thompson-Okanagan in 2019. Albertans are significantly more likely to be wine tourism visitors than British Columbians. Visitation by region varies substantially depending on the location of the winery.Visitors to the Thompson-Okanagan, 201914%BC Visitors AB VisitorsOther ProvincesBackyardVineyards(Langley)97%71%29%66%34%60%40%3%Monte CreekWinery(Kamloops)BC Visitors AB VisitorsDirty LaundryWinery(Summerland)CedarCreekEstate Winery(Kelowna)WINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 10WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
WINE TOURISM PATH-TO-PURCHASEDemand generation, dispersion across regions and seasons, and experience enhancement will be focused on different parts of the path to purchase.Demand generation increases the total number of visitors to wineries either through attracting new consumers or increasing how often existing consumers visit.Dispersion spreads out visitors, expanding the overall capacity and resilience of the industry.Experience enhancement improves the quality of the experience for wine tourists.ArrivalDevelop day’s itineraryTouring and discoveryRepeat wine purchaseat homeWine destination awarenessDream about itConsider visitingPlanning from homeFinalizationCURATE AND GUIDEDEMAND GENERATIONEXPERIENCEENHANCEMENT DISPERSIONWINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 11WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
STRATEGY PILLARSThis plan is built on 10 areas of strategic focus that are housed under three major strategy pillars: Brand Building, Intelligent Marketing, and Experience Making.BRAND BUILDINGBrand building includes actions that work to support and promote the Wines of BC brand, while infusing the brand into customized experiences for visitors. Bonds between visitors and place will be nurtured as they are engaged through unique place-based narratives that create a long-term emotional connection to wine touring.INTELLIGENT MARKETINGData that is gathered, analyzed and utilized for strategic marketing decisions on an ongoing basis will secure the competitive strength of wine tourism. Strategies under this pillar will use data to focus marketing for targeting visitors, driving dispersion, and to thoughtfully engage audiences through various digital platforms. Wine Growers BC can increase the efficiency of its members’ own marketing by sharing insights that smaller organizations do not have the capacity to generate on their own.EXPERIENCE MAKINGExperience making will enhance the visitor journey through the development of innovative and personalized experiences across sectors, seasons, and regions. Industry will be empowered to collaborate and curate offerings that collectively strengthen the wine tourism experience. Maintaining a high level of creativity and excellence in experience making will ensure visitation to BC’s wine regions continues to strengthen and grow.WINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 12WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
STRATEGY OVERVIEWBRAND BUILDINGEXPERIENCE MARKETINGINTELLIGENT MARKETINGExperience developmentFoster experiential innovation among wineries in the province by providing inspiration and connections. Themed routes and clustersIdentify common values and drivers of wine tourism and curate specic clusters and routes, such as Sustainable or Family Friendly.Leverage festivals and eventsPromote existing shoulder season festivals and events to attract older visitors.Champion new culinary experiencesEngage and promote new high quality culinary experiences.Local food focusFocus the “food element” of tourism on local food, including farms, markets, retailers and restaurants.Intimate place-based positioningPosition wine tourism as deepening the bonds between people, wine and food with the awe-inspiring wine regions of BC.Regional cross-promotionTarget current visitors to one wine region to visit a different wine region in the future.Focused digital marketingAttract new visitors and disperse wine tourism to areas with capacity and increasing overall revenues from wine tourism.Data-driven targetingUse DBC data to target specic and seasonal audiences.App developmentIncrease functionality and engagement with the Wines of BC Explorer App.WINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 13WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
STRATEGIC FOCUSDEMAND GENERATIONDISPERSIONEXPERIENCE ENHANCEMENTIntimate place-based positioningExperience developmentFocused digital marketingData-driven targetingApp developmentRegional cross-promotionThemed routes and clustersLeverage festivals and eventsChampion new culinary experiencesLocal food focusWINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 14WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
STRATEGIC EVOLUTIONNEW ENHANCEDIntimate place-based positioningExperience developmentFocused digital marketingData-driven marketingApp developmentRegional cross-promotionThemed routes and clustersLeverage festivals and eventsChampion new culinary experiencesLocal food focusWINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 15WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
DIGITAL STRATEGIESINTIMATE PLACE-BASED POSITIONINGEach wine region in BC, and indeed each winery, is a unique place with its own stories. In turn, wine tourists will create their own stories as they visit the land and enjoy the wine that comes from it. Position wine tourism as naturally grounded in the land and leverage these experiences to deepen the bonds between people and place. Surprise visitors with what they will learn, taste, and celebrate.Develop place narratives. Collect, write or commission stories of place for BC’s wine regions. These narratives should emphasize personal stories of meaning grounded in place rather than history and luxury. Different stories can exemplify different aspects of the brand of Wines of British Columbia.EXPERIENCE DEVELOPMENTAlthough Wine Growers BC doesn’t control individual winery tasting experiences, it can foster experiential innovation among wineries in the province by acting as an information hub –collecting local knowledge and bringing in expertise from other wine regions. The pandemic has forced rapid changes in the tasting experience. Some of these changes should be happily discarded, while others should be celebrated and adopted widely.Younger wine drinkers, especially in the Enthusiastic Learners segment, are more ethnically diverse and health conscious than previous generations. They shy away from explicit displays of wealth, but eagerly seek out experiences that demonstrate their values in photogenic locations. They are less likely to focus on the cost of a bottle and more likely to talk about how a brand is making the world a better place. These wine drinkers are seeking experiences that are unusual, intimate and personally meaningful.Research shows that the Okanagan Valley and the Similkameen Valley lead the province in compelling wine experiences. Wineries in other regions can draw on the knowledge from these leaders and all have much to learn from wineries around the world. (WGBC’s 2016 and 2018 benchmarking surveys conducted across tourists from BC and Alberta.)Experience development speaker series. Invitational speaker series bringing in experts from leading international wineries. Structure discussion into the series so that local wineries can share their own philosophy, successes and failures in innovative tasting and touring experiences.Advocate for policy changes. Innovation in winery experiences is constrained by current LCRB licensing requirements. Wine Growers BC can advocate to liberalize regulation (i.e., site wide wine-by-the-glass endorsement).WINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 16WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
DIGITAL STRATEGIESFOCUSED DIGITAL MARKETINGDigital marketing aimed at prime wine tourist segments will be essential to dispersing wine tourism to areas with capacity and increasing overall revenues from wine tourism. Careful management of campaign timing and audience will increase both awareness and consideration. Digital marketing should focus on prompting the highest value slices of Engaged Explorers to travel as this segment is both least constrained by family and not yet xed in their wine and travel preferences. Fresh survey data and PRIZM data from Destination BC will allow for highly focused targeting.Many smaller wineries lack capacity to coordinate narrow segment-based targeting or in-destination, location-based targeting. WGBC can support these wineries directly through campaigns as well as by providing focused, data-driven targeting tools (see below). Location-based targeting in particular may be effective in increasing the number of wineries visited for tourists already inside a wine region.Seasonal campaigns. Maximize use of winery capacity and visitor numbers by promoting shoulder-season tourism in the Okanagan and year-round tourism in other wine regions.Partner with Provincial DMOs and wine associations. To increase visitation and disperse wine tourism across regions and seasons, WGBC’s marketing objectives will often be well aligned with the objectives of DMOs. Partnerships could help supply DMOs and wine associations with assets that they are often hungry for or more simply coordinate consistent messaging.Align marketing strategies with sector partners. Create opportunities for collaborative discussions with sector partners to align strategies that support segment-based targeting and driving should season visitation across regions.DATA-DRIVEN TARGETINGWith the recently concluded study of wine drinking segments and ongoing PRIZM data from Destination BC, WGBC will have a wealth of targeting data to share with members. This data will include wine consumption, wine & food festival/show attendance, demographics, and media consumption information. Taken together, WGBC can provide targeting guides for both broad and highly specic audiences.Examples include:• Family marketing to Vancouver and Calgary forJuly and August trips.• South Asian marketing strategy to Surrey(esp. younger wine drinkers).• Media and geography guides that identify thehighest potential wine tourists.Audience one-pagers. Develop and distribute targeting guides to wine growers as single-page summaries in a digestible format. These one-pagers can also serve as guides for collaborations with DMOs, hotels and restaurants with similar marketing targets. FB/Insta integrated targeting. Through a media partner, develop a targeting tool that can be integrated with growers’ Facebook/Instagram accounts.WINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 17WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
DIGITAL STRATEGIESAPP DEVELOPMENTEnhance functionality, adoption, and activation of the Wines of BC Explorer App to reach its full potential. The app can be elevated to better facilitate planning and be more accessible to less sophisticated wine drinkers. FunctionalityCurated routes: expand and enhance curated routes and recommendation functions for users to easily build an itinerary. Examples include additional themed routes, a winery randomizer, and recommended wineries based on app tasting proles. Advice: provide advice for users through “Ask an Expert” and provide a recommended list of experts to follow via social media.Navigation: enhance the mapping features by providing a link to Google Maps for curated routes. Integrate links to reservation systems for wineries and select restaurants.Post trip purchases: allow users to look up that BC wine they loved and see at what retail locations they can get it back home.Local food: in addition to restaurants, locate markets, food stands, and other private food operators on the app. Offer local wine & food pairing suggestions.AdoptionPromotion: have QR codes at select restaurants to promote the app. Further promote the app at airports, retail locations (i.e., Save-On-Foods), via inuencers, and through WGBC owned social media accounts.ActivationOptimization: of general presentation and navigation within the app (see functionality review). Wine trivia: a game for in-destination or at home through the app. Each play equals an entry into a draw for a wine vacation.Wine achievements: offer digital awards/badges for touring a set of wineries (one per region), tasting sets of wines, checking in at a certain number of wineries, etc.Visuals: move beyond series of lists and become more visual.All content on the app should also be marketed through different channels.Use this QR code to download and enjoy the Wine of BC Explorer App.
DIGITAL STRATEGIESREGIONAL CROSS-PROMOTIONThe visitor who is most likely to visit two wineries is the visitor who has already visited one winery. By encouraging their patrons to visit wineries in other regions, growers can increase wine tourism in other regions and in turn benet from visitors to those other wine regions adding their winery to their itinerary on their next trip.Within the same region, wineries can collaborate with complementary experiences – breweries, distilleries, restaurants and orchards to build a stronger overall tourism product. This strategy will be particularly effective for wineries outside the Okanagan.Winery matchmaking. Encourage wineries to match themselves with wineries in other regions that share similar values, tasting experiences or vintages. Develop a standard for what it takes to be a “twin” with regards to promotional space, location and intensity. A common standard will ease cooperation and keep cross-promotion equitable.Complementary experiences. Encourage wineries to pair themselves with breweries, distilleries, restaurants and orchards within their own regions. As with Winery Matchmaking, develop a standard for what it takes to create a reciprocal relationship with regards to promotional space, location and intensity. Cross promotion by grape variety. Cross-promote regions to drive dispersion by encouraging consumers to compare their favourite grape variety between regions. For example, Pinot Noir enthusiasts enjoying this variety in the Okanagan Valley can be encouraged to visit Vancouver Island next to experience the different notes and characteristics of the same variety in a new region.WINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 19WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
DIGITAL STRATEGIESTHEMED ROUTES AND CLUSTERSDifferent consumers are best suited to different wineries. By identifying and indexing common themes in the values or tasting experiences of wineries, WGBC can help visitors nd the growers they’ll love in routes and clusters.Sustainability is increasingly a driver of purchasing decisions, especially around luxury purchases and for younger generations. These Enthusiastic Learners currently drink less wine and are less likely to visit the Okanagan than older generations. An easy guide to nding sustainable vineyards and wineries may help draw Enthusiastic Learners to the Okanagan.July and August are peak holiday times for young families. In the Thompson-Okanagan especially, this leads to a dramatic change in the makeup of visitors – with families from greater Vancouver and Albertamaking up the majority of visitors. Wine regionsin BC, with their safety, proximity and wealth ofoutdoor experiences are well suited to active youngfamilies. However, wineries themselves often offerlittle to entertain children while their parents enjoythe vineyard. Not all wineries should be tailored tochildren, but by highlighting those that do welcomechildren, WGBC can increase the share of visitors towine regions who visit wineries. These added visitors will increase revenue in the short term and in the long term create more dedicated wine tourists as Engaged Explorers age into Mature Mainstreamers. Sustainable routes and clusters. Sustainable Wine Growing British Columbia certies both wineries and vineyards based on their practices. WGBC should index certied growers and promote them collectively through the Wines of British Columbia app and elsewhere. Making sustainable growers easy to nd will engage all consumers passionate about sustainability but will be particularly effective for British Columbian Enthusiastic Learners and Engaged Explorers - groups that highly value sustainability. Family routes & clusters. Identify family-friendly wineries in the Wines of BC Explorer App and elsewhere.Build maps pairing family-friendly wineries with nearby attractions appealing to children (playgrounds, splash parks, petting zoos, etc.). WINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 20WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
DIGITAL STRATEGIESLEVERAGE FESTIAVALS AND EVENTSAs WGBC and DMOs across the province have already recognized, festivals and events are key opportunities to spread visitation to the shoulder season. For wineries, festivals in May, June and October are essential for bringing Mature Mainstreamers into wine regions outside the peak summer season. These visitors are inclined towards more traditional wine tasting experiences and will often anchor their festival experience on a visit to their favourite winery or wineries in the area. WGBC could support festivals through funding, promotion and providing targeting information to DMOs and individual wineries.Events-based promotion of wine touring through limited-time, extraordinary experiences are especially appealing to the younger Enthusiastic Learners group. Through speakers or workshops (see Experience Development above), WGBC can disseminate knowledge and ideas for successful events. With targeting tools (see Audience one-pagers above) WGBC can help wineries pair their events with the best potential audiences. Events (vs. festivals) will perform best for wineries near the Vancouver Metro area and Victoria, appealing to the desire for social experiences of Enthusiastic Learners.Events workshop. Bring together leading local wineries to discuss failures and successes in designing events for young wine tourists. An excellent opportunity for the younger staff at wineries to contribute to product development.Inuencers driving attendance & purchase. Inuencers are an effective aid to most social strategies. Industry best practice has increasingly moved away from soliciting promotion by general inuencers with millions of followers to a focus on topic-specic inuencers with smaller followings (tens or hundreds of thousands). This is especially relevant for industries like wine that have large gaps in knowledge between experts and laypeople.Identify and sponsor inuencers to attend events (Enthusiastic Learners; Instagram) or purchase their favourite local wines discovered through touring (Mature Mainstreamers; Facebook).CHAMPION NEW CULINARY EXPERIENCESBe a resource and the arbiter of taste for consumers seeking premium wine and food experiences. Engage and promote new, high quality culinary experiences across the province. Use these opportunities to strengthen relationships with local food service providers and to bolster the reputation of WGBC as tied to superior wine & food experiences. Culinary push notications. Offer the ability through the app or email to opt in and receive a push notication when a new culinary experience arrives in a destination. LOCAL FOOD FOCUSFocus the “food element” of tourism on local food, including farms, markets, retailers and restaurants. Direct consumers to the exceptional dining, touring, tasting, and food shopping opportunities in their region of travel.Build an inventory of exceptional local food. Curate an easily accessible list of local food resources available on the website, through the app, and via social media. These locations can be built into themed routes or agged as noteworthy places to visit between wineries.WINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 21WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
INVESTMENT OVER TIMESTRATEGY 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027Intimate place-based positioning20% 15% 10% 10% 10%Experience development5% 5% 5% 5% 5%Focused digital marketing25% 30% 30% 35% 30%Data-driven targeting5% 5% 5% 5% 5%App development5% 5% 10% 5% 10%Regional cross-promotion- 5% 5% 5% 5%Themed routes and clusters15% 15% 15% 15% 15%Leverage festivals and events15% 10% 10% 10% 10%Champion new culinary experiences- 5% 5% 5% 5%Local food focus10% 5% 5% 5% 5%WINE TOURISM STRATEGY | 2023-2027 22WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIA
WINE GROWERS BRITISH COLUMBIAWineBC.com facebook.com/winebcdotcom @WineBCdotcom @WineBCdotcom Wine Growers British Columbia Wines of British Columbia Tel 250.762.9744 Fax 250.762.9788 Toll-Free 1.800.661.2294 Suite 470 - 1726 Dolphin Avenue Kelowna, British Columbia V1Y 9R9
APPENDIX
The Value of Wine Tourism in British ColumbiaJuly 2022Prepared By:Cascadia Strategy Consulting Partners Ltd. 420 – 1090 Homer St. Vancouver, BC. V6B 2W9 Jonathan Snoek (Primary Contact)jonathan@cascadiapartners.ca(778) 233-5770Liam Elbournelelbourne@cascadiapartners.ca(236) 999-2647
The Growth of Wine Tourism in British Columbia, 2015 – 2019In 2017, Canada’s Wine Economy – Ripe, Robust,Remarkable was published, outlining the profoundeconomic impact of the wine economy in Canada’sfour grape-growing provinces. Measured in 2015,the study estimated the revenue and labour marketbenefits generated by a range of activities in theindustry value chain, including tourism. In BritishColumbia, this included an estimated 1 milliontourists, $452 million in tourism-related revenue, and$147 million in wages across 2,615 tourism-relatedjobs.Since then, Wine Growers BC has invested heavily inwine tourism marketing. Funded through a matchingagreement with Destination BC, Wine Growers BChas spent about $2 million on marketing initiativeswhich encourage tourists to swap BC’s ‘GoldenTriangle’ (Vancouver, Victoria, and Whistler) for BC’swine regions (many of which are in the interior). Now,Wine Growers Canada’s latest economic impactreport (titled Canada’s Wine Economy – Growth andInnovation Through Global Challenges) sheds lighton the growth of wine tourism in British Columbiafrom 2015 to 2019 and, crucially, the extent to whichmarketing investments prior to COVID-19 wereeffective.1Table 1: Volume and economic impact of wine tourism in BCFigure 1: Distribution of wine regions in British ColumbiaIt is clear from the strong growth of wine tourism inBritish Columbia over this period that theseinvestments were well-allocated (see Table 1). In justfour years, the number of tourists visiting BC winerieseach year increased by 191,500 (up 19.2% from2015). This was accompanied by the creation of1,297 new jobs in wine tourism (up 49.6%) and anincrease in the annual economic impact of the winetourism industry of $184.4 million (up 30.8%). Asillustrated in the next section, this growth is all themore impressive in comparative terms.2015 2019TourismNumber of Tourists 1,000,000 1,191,500Average Spend per Tourist$246 $325Economic Impact1Revenue $452.1 million $609.0 millionWages $147.2 million $174.7 millionJobs 2,615 3,9121These figures include direct, indirect, and induced effects associated with wine tourism.
Comparative Growth of BC Wine TourismTo evaluate the relative growth of BC wine tourismbetween 2015 and 2019, two natural comparisonsare overall tourism in British Columbia and winetourism elsewhere in Canada. In both cases, BCwine tourism comprehensively outperformed itscomparators.First and foremost, BC wine tourism grew at nearlytwice the rate of overall tourism in British Columbia interms of both annual tourist volume and revenue(see Figure 2). With a well-known concentration oftourism activity in the Metro Vancouver, VancouverIsland, and Whistler areas, this pattern illustrates theimportant role that Wine Growers BC is playing in re-distributing tourist activity toward less highlytrafficked areas of the province.Vancouver by car (and over seven hours fromCalgary), posing a higher hurdle to attracting touristsand likely skewing tourist visits to multi-day stays. Bycontrast, the Niagara region is just one-and-a-halfhours from Toronto by car. Similar observations holdin both Nova Scotia and Quebec. The BC wineindustry also outpaced its Canadian counterparts interms of annual tourism revenue growth.The Economic Impact of Maintaining Wine Tourism’s Growth TrajectoryThe BC wine industry has demonstrated its ability toput marketing investments in wine tourism to work,doubling the growth rates of both wine tourismelsewhere in Canada and overall tourism in BritishColumbia. This strong historical performancesuggests that through continued marketinginvestment by Wine Growers BC (supported bypublic funding), wine tourism in British Columbia cancontinue to outpace the growth of overall tourism inthe province.Compared to a situation in which wine tourism grewat the rate of overall tourism in British Columbia2,maintaining wine tourism’s strong level of growthwould deliver tremendous value to the BC economy.First and foremost, this would be realized through adramatic increase in tourist volume. As illustrated byFigure 3, the BC wine industry would see anadditional 290,000 tourists between 2023 and 2026.Figure 2: Annual rates of tourism growth, 2015 - 2019While it may be tempting to attribute this trend to agrowing interest in wine nationwide, data on winetourism elsewhere in Canada suggests otherwise.Wine tourist volume elsewhere in Canada – drivenpredominantly by the Ontario wine industry – grew atnearly half the rate observed in British Columbia(4.5% vs 2.3%). Given geographic differencesbetween the provinces, this is a tremendousaccomplishment. In British Columbia, the OkanaganValley is upwards of four-and-a-half hours from22We assume that in the absence of ongoing marketing investments, wine tourism in BC would revert to the growth rate of overall tourism in BC .See Appendix for detailed methodology.1,000,0001,100,0001,200,0001,300,0001,400,0001,500,0002022 2023 2024 2025 2026Wine tourists4.5%12.0%2.3%9.6%2.2%6.5%Annual # of Tourists Annual Tourism RevenueBC Wine TourismCAD Wine Tourism (excl. BC)Overall BC TourismFigure 3: Incremental tourist volume generated by maintaining BC wine’s current growth trajectory+27,000+56,000+87,000+120,000Base CaseIncreased Marketing Investment
$100,000,000 $125,000,000 $150,000,000 $175,000,000 $200,000,000 $225,000,000 $250,000,0002022 2023 2024 2025 2026WagesThis increase in tourist volume would result in largeincreases in revenues attributable to wine tourism inBritish Columbia. In total, an additional $399.4 millionin revenue would be generated over the four-yearperiod by the increased tourist activity. Thisincremental growth is depicted in Figure 4.Tourism Growth Requirements and the Value of a Tourist VisitAchieving this level of growth over the next fouryears will require the BC wine industry to generateannual increases in tourist volume, direct revenue,and jobs of:Figure 4: Incremental tourism revenue2 generated by maintaining BC wine’s current growth trajectoryFinally, to service this increased tourist activity, anadditional $66.0 million in wages across 1,117tourism-related jobs would be created relative to thestatus-quo scenario. The incremental wages andjobs generated are depicted in Figures 5 and 6,respectively.32These figures include direct, indirect, and induced effects.3Note that indirect and induced revenue and jobs accrue on top of these figures.Figure 5: Incremental wages2generated by maintaining BC wine tourism’s current growth trajectory$500,000,000$600,000,000$700,000,000$800,000,000$900,000,000$1,000,000,000$1,100,000,0002022 2023 2024 2025 2026Revenue - 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,0002022 2023 2024 2025 2026JobsFigure 5: Incremental jobs generated by maintaining BC wine tourism’s current growth trajectory57,500 new tourists visiting BC wineries$55.5 million in new direct tourism revenue3Achieving this level of growth will require a clearlyarticulated tourism strategy which, amongst aplethora of other considerations, considers themarginal value a tourist visit. Crucially, as revealedby data from Statistics Canada’s National TravelSurvey on tourism to the Thompson-Okanaganregion, this differs based on:• what time of year the visit occurs,+1,117+767+468+214+$174M+$119M+$73M+$33M+$27M+$20M+$13M+$6MBase CaseIncreased Marketing InvestmentBase CaseIncreased Marketing InvestmentBase CaseIncreased Marketing Investment400 new jobs inwine tourism3
• whether it is a new tourist or a tourist that isextending an existing trip, and• the duration of their stay.A few observations emerge from this data. First,average daily spend is decreasing in trip duration.That means that the longer tourists stay, the lessthen spend each day. As a corollary based onaverage trip duration, a new unique visit is relativelymore valuable than an extension to an existing trip.However, we note that this is likely balanced by ahigher marketing cost to attract new unique visits(relative to trip extensions)4. Finally, tourists tend tospend more in the summer than in the shoulderseasons. While this final observation would suggesttargeting summer tourists exclusively, it needs to bebalanced against capacity constraints at bothwineries and the local hospitality industry.Tables 2 and 3 provide a summary of this analysis,outlining the value of new and extended tourist visitsbased on the duration of the visit and the season inwhich the visit occurs. These tables should serve asa vital input to strategic planning in order to meet thetourism growth targets outlined in this report.Table 2: Value of new and extended tourist visitsbetween April and June, by trip duration44Data on marketing penetration rates is not available to validate this claim.April – June (Calendar Q2)Target Type Avg. ValueNew short stay (1-2 days) $451New long stay (3+ days) $1,1461-day extension to short stay $3031-day extension to long stay $222July – September (Calendar Q3)Target Type Avg. ValueNew short stay (1-2 days) $656New long stay (3+ days) $1,3401-day extension to short stay $3531-day extension to long stay $239Table 3: Value of new and extended tourist visitsbetween July and September, by trip duration
APPENDIXData SourcesData on the economic impact of wine tourism comesfrom Wine Growers Canada’s 2017 and 2022publications Canada’s Wine Economy – Ripe,Robust, Remarkable and Canada’s Wine Economy –Growth and Innovation Through Global Challenges.Data on overall tourism, including both traffic andrevenue, comes from Destination BC’s 2020 Value ofTourism / 10 Year Trend Data Tables (published inFebruary 2022).Data on tourist volume and spend to the Thompson-Okanagan region comes from Statistics Canada’sNational Travel Survey.Methodology – The Economic Impact of Maintaining Wine Tourism’s Growth TrajectoryTo estimate the marginal economic impact ofmaintaining the current growth trajectory of BC winetourism, Cascadia constructed tourism growthscenarios and applied them to historical data ontourism volume, revenue, wages, and jobs. Thesescenarios are assumed to be driven by increasedlevels of marketing investment, with more aggressiveinvestment resulting in higher levels of growth. Theassumed growth rates are outlined in Table 3 below.3indirect/induced revenue and wages calculated byapplying the economic impact multipliers implied bythe 2022 economic impact study cited above. Withmore recent data (i.e., post-COVID-19) unavailable,we have assumed that tourism will have recovered toits pre-COVID levels by the summer of 2022. That is,we have assumed baseline tourism traffic, revenue,wages, and jobs in 2022 are at the levels observed in2019 and forecast the growth of these variables overthe years 2023 to 2026.Marginal economic impact was calculated as thedifference in revenue, wages, and jobs betweenthese two scenarios.Annual Growth RateScenarioTourist VolumeRevenue WagesMaintaining historical wine tourism growth4.5% 12.0% 5.7%Reverting to overall BC tourism growth2.2% 6.5% 2.2%Table 3: Assumed growth scenariosFor each scenario, these growth rates were applied to the baseline levels of tourist traffic, direct revenue, and direct wages over a four-year period, with
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