Wine Australia has appointed the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) and Hydra Consulting to develop its Wine Tourism and Wine Export Capability Building Programs that will provide education and training to upskill wine businesses for export readiness and develop ‘international ready’ wine tourism products and services for the wine sector.

Funded by the Australian Government’s $50 million Export and Regional Wine Support Package (ERWSP), the national roll out of the seminars and workshops will commence later this year and they will be supported with online toolkits.

The programs are part of a broad suite of the $50m ERWSP activities to equip wine businesses with the knowledge and resources to capture wine export and international wine tourism opportunities.

Wine Australia general manager Brett Murphy said, “The programs will offer a hands-on approach to wine exports and wine tourism, with detailed market insights and tools for targeting growth and commercial opportunities in a competitive landscape.

“The design of the programs will consider the varying levels of capability across the wine sector – from those who are looking to export or develop their wine tourism offering, to existing exporters and wine businesses wanting to maximise their opportunities in market.

“Wine Australia is investing heavily in the USA and China, with the support of the $50m package, and it’s opening the door for wineries and wine regions to take advantage of the growing appeal for Australian wine and wine tourism.

“With the right approach, a wine purchase from a cellar door can be a liquid postcard for your region and an opportunity to connect tourists with distributors in market when they return home,” he said.

ATEC will be working with Wine Tourism Australia and Fastrak Asian Solutions to develop the Wine Tourism Capability Building Program.

“ATEC is well established in product development and we will help the wine sector to create international wine tourism experiences that will further enhance the appeal of Australia as a destination,” said ATEC managing director Peter Shelley.

Hydra Consulting is partnering with Van der Lee and Associates to develop the Wine Export Capability Building Program.

Dr Darren Oemcke, marketing director at Hydra Consulting said, “This program is a unique opportunity to support companies in their export growth efforts. Wine Australia and Hydra Consulting are working hard to create an engaging, practical and experience-based learning opportunity for emerging and current exporters.

“As businesses consider whether, when, where and how to export, this program will underpin their efforts with practical skill development to increase their likelihood of success,” he said.

Wine Australia’s $2 million investment in capability development – as part of the ERWSP – includes a review of existing education and support programs undertaken with sector consultation, development and delivery of the Wine Tourism and Wine Export Capability Building Programs and associated online toolkits, as well as detailed market insights and a study of the barriers to export markets.