• The managing director of the Ourense fairgrounds, Rogelio Martínez, presented the two international projects related to wine: Xantar and Ourense Vinis Terrae

• Info Wine Forum is a specialized and hybrid event that is being followed by more than 500 registrants from various countries

Expourense has participated this afternoon in a round table that analyzed the new trends in Wine tourism framed in the International Congress of Viticulture “Info Wine Forum” that is held between today and tomorrow in Vila Real. This participation was carried out by the new managing director of Expourense, Rogelio Martínez, and represents his first public act in Portugal, a country with which Expourense maintains close cross-border cooperation. Info Wine Forum is a specialized meeting point around wine that is being followed by more than 500 registered, both in person and online.

Rogelio Martínez spoke about the role that both wine and wine tourism play in the events organized by the Expourense Foundation, especially in Xantar, the International Gastronomic Tourism Fair, and in Ourense Vinis Terrae, the Quality Galician Wine and Liquor Fair. He was accompanied in this round table by two great collaborators and partners of these projects. The first of them was the president of the Porto e Norte Tourism Entity, Luis Pedro Martins. Porto e Norte is the main strategic partner of Expourense in Portugal and facilitates the massive participation of municipal chambers of this region in Expourense events. The other speaker was Altino Bessa, Braga Tourism Supervisor, a city that has been present in Xantar since the first edition.

In his speech, Rogelio Martínez highlighted that Expourense has just completed 25 years dedicated to promoting the potential of the Galician territory, among which gastronomy and viticulture stand out. He took a tour of the progressive increase in the prominence of wine in Xantar until he came to speak of “Enogastronomic Tourism” and how he went one step further and decided to organize an event specialized solely in wine such as Ourense Vinis Terrae, an appointment 100% professional, 100% Galician and 100% quality.

The managing director took the opportunity to invite attendees to participate, in person or virtually, in the next edition of Ourense Vinis Terrae to be held on June 14 and 15, which will bring together buyers and importers from 25 countries and that It offers a complete program of training activities, among which the masterclasses of the main national and international gurus of oenology such as Sarah Jane Evans, Jorge Navascués or Ferran Centelles stand out.

During his participation, Rogelio Martínez emphasized the power of wine as a dynamic element of the territories that make up the denominations of origin of Galicia, located in the rural environment. It is a sector that in our community covers some 9,000 hectares of surface, with more than 15,000 winegrowers, 400 wineries and a production that exceeds 60 million kilos of grapes per year. But also, recalled the managing director of Expourense, “Galician wine is also one of the great ambassadors of our land and generates synergies with other sectors such as rural tourism.” Martínez also emphasized that wine tourism in Galicia is a key element in the seasonal adjustment of tourism in the community and that it has become a tourism product that contributes to differentiate Galicia’s offer, promoting it as a safe, quality and sustainable destination.

Regarding the future of wine tourism, Rogelio Martínez was optimistic, referring to the fact that the new “post-COVID” traveler is now going to request high value-added experiences that promote a healthy lifestyle that combines leisure and rest, looking for nearby places not overcrowded and quiet in contact with nature and with a good gastronomic offer, “and that is where wine tourism has its great opportunity because the profile of the wine tourist and the type profile of the new post-COVID-19 traveler will be very similar,” he indicated.