Modern Communication and Wine Tourism / BKWine

All photographs: © Copyright BKWine Photography

Modern Communication and Wine Tourism

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An example of how to sell the wine tour destination

with modern communication tools

Per Karlsson

BKWine AB

www.bkwinetours.com | per.karlsson (at) bkwine.com | T: @bkwineper | FB: bkwine.per


Wine Tourism of Two Types

• General Wine Tourism – mass market

2011-06-10 2www.bkwinetours.com | per.karlsson (at) bkwine.com | T: @bkwineper | FB: bkwine.per



• General Wine Tourism • Specialised Wine Tourism




• General Wine Tourism • Specialised Wine Tourism



A Glance at Wine Tourism in France

• 10 million visits• 4 million foreigners

– Belgium 27%, UK 21%, Germany, NL, US…

• (Napa Valley 20 million!)• 10,000 caves touristiques• 200 euros/visitor• Various government

initiatives– Label: Vignoble &

Decouvertes– Prix de l’Oenoutourisme

• Wine roads• Big projects popular…

– La Winery, 20M €– Le Hameau de Bages, 5M €– Champagne Taittinger,

120,000 visitors

2011-06-10 www.bkwinetours.com | per.karlsson (at) bkwine.com | T: @bkwineper | FB: bkwine.per 5


A Glance at Wine Tourism in France

• 10 million visits• 4 million foreigners

– Belgium 27%, UK 21%, Germany, NL, US…

• (Napa Valley 20 million!)• 10,000 caves touristiques• 200 euros/visitor• Various government

initiatives– Label: Vignoble &

Decouvertes– Prix de l’Oenoutourisme

• Wine roads• Big projects popular…

– La Winery, 20M €– Le Hameau de Bages, 5M €– Champagne Taittinger,

120,000 visitors

But this is far from most wineries’ reality.

What to do if you don’t have millions of €€?

2011-06-10 www.bkwinetours.com | per.karlsson (at) bkwine.com | T: @bkwineper | FB: bkwine.per 6


You may feel alone in the desert



So how to show people where you are?



Modern Communications for Everyone

Let me give you an example:

A small business that has become leading in its field.

And how you, how anyone, can do it too!


BKWine

• Wine tours

• Wine journalism

• Wine photography

• Wine video

• Wine consulting



BKWine / Per Karlsson

• Technology

• Business

• Wine

• Travel



Modern Communication Tools?




If you make an effort!




• Old World

– Advertising

– Postal mailings

– Printed catalogues

– Tourism organisations

– …

Money

Distant




• Old World

– Advertising

– Postal mailings

– Tourism organisations

– …

Money

Distant

• New World

– Little or no €€

– Time

– Personal



So What Do We (You?) do?

• Step 1:

A Web Site is a Must



So What Do We (You?) do? (2)

• Blog – no longer bleeding edge

• Email “marketing”



So What Do We (You?) do? (2-B)

• YouTube / Videos

• LinkedIn / Vinix

• Variousother



So What Do We (You?) do? (3)

• “Social Media”

– Twitter, FaceBook and others



For BKWine

• Web Site: since 1996; 30,000 visitors/month

• Blogs: since 2005, ~one post per day

• Email marketing: 20,000 subscribers

• YouTube: since 2007; 246,171 views

• Twitter: 2313 “followers”

• FaceBook: 1831 “friends”

But don’t be fooled. It’s about Quality!



Some Practical Advice

• A) Must

• B) Easy

• C) Enthusiast



A) Must!• You must have a web site

A few things to think about:– Simple & informative; not

glossy & elegant– No ‘flash’– Some English– Contact details– Keep it up to dateDoesn’t have to be expensive

• Collect email addresses– Contacts, visitors, customers…– Don’t misuse them!



B) Easy

• Newsletter– It’s simple

– Not (too much) sales promotion

– Lot’s of good – and cheap –tools (YMLP, iContact, ConstantContact, MailChimp…)

• Blog– Simple

– Relatively often



C) Enthusiast

• Get a FaceBook account– Test & Try

• Get a Twitter account– Test & Try

• Follow e.g. @bkwineper,@ilGamberoRosso,@vinoalvino…

• Videos???– Fun and very powerful. (Provided they are not too

“commercial”)



How to succeed in Wine Tourism

• You need 4 things!





– Time





– Time

– Enthusiasm





– Time

– Enthusiasm

– Wine glasses





– Time

– Enthusiasm

– Good wine glasses





– Time

– Enthusiasm

– Wine glasses

– Toilets





– Time

– Enthusiasm

– Wine glasses

– Toilets

• You don’t need

– A lot of money

– A fancy tasting room



Conclusions

• The Good Things

– Much of it is free or low cost

– Easy to try and test

– Gives you direct contact with the customer(if you want)



Conclusions

• The Good Things

– Much of it is free or low cost

– Easy to try and test

– Gives you direct contact with the customer (if you want)

• The bad thing

– It does take some time



Four things to remember!

1. Try and Test

2. Doesn’t have to be perfect. Do it now!

3. Be simple

4. Be personal

Wine is about people and passion!



Thank you!• Contact me:

– Per Karlsson, BKWine

– Email: per.karlsson (at) bkwine.com

– Twitter: @bkwineper

– FaceBook: bkwine.per

– Web:• Wine Tours: www.bkwinetours.com

• Wine Tours/Scandinavia: www.bkwinevinresor.com

• Photography: www.bkwinephotography.com

• BKWine Magazine: www.bkwine.com


http://www.bkwinetours.com/

http://www.bkwinevinresor.com/

http://www.bkwinephotography.com/

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