Image and words Sonya Logan, Harrison Davies.
The 18th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference (AWITC) concluded in Adelaide yesterday after attracting around 20 per cent more delegates than the last time the triennial event was held in 2019.
During his closing speech, managing director of the Australian Wine Research Institute and chair of the AWITC planning committee Mark Krstic revealed almost 1200 delegates had registered for the event, which incorporated the Australian Grape & Wine Outlook Conference and the WineTech trade exhibition.
More than 49 plenary talks were presented over the three days, delivering a combination of the sobering challenges currently facing the wine industry as well as the opportunities and updates on the latest research in viticulture, oenology and marketing.
A total of 37 workshops on vineyard, winery and business topics were also held with the total number of tickets sold to them also around 20 per cent up on 2019.
The WineTech trade exhibition saw 163 companies display their products and service over 3100 square metres.
“We’ve worked hard to make sure that the tech conference and WineTech are truly connected and integrated to make it a seamless event,” Krstic said.
“Let me be clear, the trade exhibition is a critical component of this conference and supporting our suppliers and showcasing the various latest vineyard, winery, packaging and logistics solutions is key to making this tech conference a success.”
Krstic revealed that the dates for the next AWITC in three years’ time had been set with the combined event returning to its traditional July schedule.
“The dates for the 19th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference have been booked here at the Adelaide Convention Centre again in 2025. And those dates are the 20-23 July,” he said,
Krstic explained that the reason for holding this year’s event in June was to coincide with the Institute of Masters of Wine symposium which was ultimately cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns.
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