Boom in Chinese tourists visiting Australian wineries
Australia is experiencing a boom of Chinese tourists visiting wineries says a major tour operator.
According to AAT Kings, an Australian and New Zealand tour operator, between 2015 and 2016, Chinese interest in their Australian wine tours increased by over 300 per cent.
Between 2013 and 2014, interested increased by over 600 per cent.
AAT Kings predicts the interest to continue growing in 2017 if current booking trends established in the first quarter of the year continues.
Why Chinese tourists are interested in visiting Australian wineries
An AAT Kings spokesperson told Australian Food News that younger Chinee nationals have become interested in wine with consumption increasing dramatically since 2012.
“Although China itself is one of the largest producers of wine, the market appears to prefer the quality and flavour of Australian, French and Chilean wine,” the spokesperson said.
“In China, Australia is now being associated with wine as part of our culture just like France.”
Along with a growing interest in wine, Australian travel companies are also making it easier for Chinese tourists to visit Australia’s wineries.
“Our primary marketing activities involved launching a dedicated Chinese language website and Chinese language tour brochures,” AAT Kings’ spokesperson said.
“Both these marketing tools feature several of our wine touring options and are targeted at consumers and travel agents.”
What winery regions do Chinese tourists want to visit?
Although locations like the Barossa Valley are regarded as Australia’s wine country, AAT says Chinese tourists are sticking to wineries near Sydney and Melbourne.
“Our most popular wine tours visit Hunter Valley wineries in NSW and Yarra Valley wineries in Victoria,” the AAT Kings’ spokesperson said.
More tourists to come
“With the interest in Australian wine from the Chinese market continuing to grow, we expect the numbers of Chinese guests on our tours that include wine regions to increase year-on-year,” AAT Kings’ spokesperson said.
“As evidence of this trend, vineyards are producing products and marketing directly targeted at the Chinese market. Penfolds in the Barossa Valley is packaging wine in red packaging and themed packaging such as their ‘Year of the Rooster’ bottle for ‘Max’s – The Promise Shiraz’.”
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