The economic impact of wine tourism in the ‘Wine Routes of Spain’ increased more than 20% in 2018, according to the report published by the Spanish Association of Wine Cities (ACEVIN) and prepared on the basis of nearly 2,000 members of the entity.

According to the document, almost 3 million people visited the wineries and wine museums associated with ‘Wine Routes of Spain’, representing a decrease of 7.8% over 2017 motivated by the departure of the club of two routes: Txakoli and Empordà, the last one with the highest number of visitors. Despite this decrease in the number of visits, caused by the decline of these two routes, the new report of ACEVIN reveals that spending on wineries and museums increased by 20.5%, to reach more than 80 million euros. This figure is calculated taking into account two factors: the price of the standard visit and the average expenditure per visitor in the wineries and museums associated with the Wine Routes of Spain. These data also confirm the maturity of the sector, which tends to offer more professional services of greater value.

The Marco de Jerez Wine and Brandy Routes and the Penedès Wine and Cava Route Enoturisme Penedès continue to occupy the top positions, with 582,351 and 441,467 visitors respectively. They are followed by the Ribera del Duero, Rioja Alta, Calatayud, Rioja Alavesa and Rías Baixas Wine Routes (with more than 100,000 annual visitors) and Somontano, Utiel-Requena, Garnacha-Campo de Borja and Lleida (with between 50,000 and 100,000 visitors). The Rías Baixas winery, the only Galician winery covered by the Spanish Wine Routes, ranks seventh in the number of visitors and seventh in the sector in the number of tourist services offered, and has managed to grow by 1.8% in the number of visitors to wineries with respect to the previous report.

As far as the origin of visitors is concerned, the national market is once again well above the international market and, in fact, shows a growth of 0.2%, while the best time to practice enotourism is still the time of harvest, so the largest influx of visits is concentrated in the months of September and October but also grows in spring. Precisely for this reason in Galicia are promoted at this time the Open Days, which will be held in the five wine routes of Galicia that will be between 7 and 9 days in the Wine Routes of Rías Baixas and Ribeiro, while between 14 and 16 June will be held these Open Days in the other three Wine Routes Ribeira Sacra, Valdeorras and Monterrei.

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