wine tourism in portugal 2014 - turismo de portugal a… · or professional and the number of...

Characterisation of the companies and demand

2015 Issue

Wine Tourism in Portugal

2014

ÍNDICE

Wine Tourism in Portugal | 2

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INDEX

Executive Summary

Characterisation of the Companies

Promotion of Services

Demand for Wine Tourism Properties (2014)

Within the scope of Gastronomy and Wine, the offering in the wine

tourism segment is of particular importance: it covers the whole of

Portugal; it has seen considerable investment in modern equipment

and attractive properties; and there has been an increase in the

tourist services on offer that are capable of attracting visitors to less

touristy areas and at times of year that help combat the seasonal

nature of the business. Wine tourism can also be a factor in

encouraging tourists to stay longer.

In 2014, and in light of this activity’s importance, Turismo de Portugal

launched the first survey on the Characterisation of the Demand for

Wine Tourism. The aim was to gain a deeper knowledge of wine

tourism in Portugal, in terms of supply and demand.

In 2015, the collection of statistical data covered only the demand.

Wine tourism properties were deemed to be those which produce

wine, offer guided tours (with or without advance bookings), wine

tasting and on-site sales.

They also included Port wine cellars, some cooperative wineries,

and interpretation centres or museums that, although not offering all

three of the aforementioned services (e.g. wine-growing), are

nevertheless part of the world of wine tourism.

The sources of information used to build the database for the

purpose of sending the survey were the Wine-growing Commissions,

the Wine Routes and Turismo de Portugal’s Technical Wine Tourism

Guide.

The result was a database comprising 331 properties in mainland

Portugal, Madeira and the Azores, to which the survey was sent.

The questions included in the survey about demand relate to the

wine tourism properties’ activity during the year 2014.

Since what we have here is a sample taken from the different

respondents, we will not be conducting an in-depth comparative

analysis of the results here.

We would highlight the following conclusions:

•The online presence of wine tourism properties is widespread,

taking into account websites (85%) and social media (81%).

However, it is notable that this presence is not particularly dynamic

or professional and the number of visits or followers is consequently

low.

•The main customer age ranges are as follows: 35-44 and 45-54

(each accounting for 30% of demand), followed by the 55-64 age

group, at 20%.

•The most popular month was September, the height of the grape-

picking season, which was preferred by 21% of guests.

• As regards international demand, which accounts for 50% of the

total, four markets stood out: Brazil, the United Kingdom, France and

Germany.

• Seventy-five percent of survey respondents expect turnover to

increase in 2015.


Executive Summary

41%

17%

13%

30% Production of table wines and fortified wines

Viticulture

Rural Tourism

Others

With regard to the CAE (Business Activity Code), there is a natural

preponderance of activities connected to wine, specifically CAE 11021

(production of table wine and fortified wine) and CAE 1210 (wine-

growing), at 41% and 17% respectively. Of these, 17% mention 55202

(rural tourism) as a secondary CAE.

Thirteen percent of the replies received indicated 55202 (rural tourism)

as their main CAE.

Out of the replies received, 51% of the wine tourism properties began

their activity in the decade 2000/2009 and 30% began between 2010

and 2014. The figure since 2000 was an impressive 81%.

The results also reveal that 88% of the companies that replied to the

survey are not registered as Tourism Recreational Companies and

that, of these, 45% stated that they did not have third party liability

insurance.

Source: TP – Survey on Wine

Tourism Properties

START OF BUSINESS

ACTIVITY OF WINE

TOURISM PROPERTIES

MAIN BUSINESS

ACTIVITY CODE


Tourism Properties


Characterisation of the Companies

11%

51%

30%

8%

Between 1990 and 1999



Other years

97%

87%

18%

10% 9%

Portuguese English French Spanish German

13%

61%

15%

11%

1 language

2 languages

3 languages

more than 3 languages

It is increasingly important for businesses to have an online presence

and they should see this as a management tool that is particularly

effective for promotion, advertising and sales.

Out of all the properties involved in the survey, 85% have a website

and in 61% of cases, the website is available in two languages.

Around 15% of the companies said that their website is available in

three languages. Websites in a single language accounted for 13% of

the replies.

Ninety-seven percent of the wine tourism properties said that their

websites are available in Portuguese, not quite reaching the full 100%,

which is in line with the high demand from Portuguese customers

(50% of the total) and with the demand from Brazil.

The low number of websites available in French and Spanish is

noteworthy, especially considering the international demand from

French and Spanish tourists.

Dutch and Mandarin were among the other languages mentioned as

being available on respondents’ websites.



Tourism Properties

LANGUAGES

AVAILABLE ON

WEBSITES

NUMBER OF

LANGUAGES

AVAILABLE ON

WEBSITES


Tourism Properties


19%

81%

No Yes

30%

13%

21%

36%

Up to 500



More than 5001

The reach of these sites, taking into account the number of visitors, is

very diverse. One of the companies responding to the survey reported

having more than 150,000 visits to its site annually, while others

report less than 10 visits per year, which translates into a

considerable imbalance in this respect.

Out of all the replies, 43% do not get more than 1,000 visits per year

(less than three visits per day). Conversely, 36% get more than 5,000

visits annually. The responses also indicate that 13% get more than

40,000 annual visits.

As regards social media presence, 81% of the properties said that

they had a profile on a network but here, too, the scale ranges from 9

to 60,700 followers/likes per profile. Only 25% of those which are

active on social media have more than 5,000 likes, and 20% have

less than 1,000. Of those that replied, 7% said they had over 10,000

followers.



Tourism Properties


Tourism Properties

PRESENCE ON SOCIAL

MEDIA

NUMBER OF SITE

VISITORS


62%

24%

8%

6%

Increased

Unchanged

Decreased

Don't know

18%

30%

20%

8%

24% Up to 100

Between 101 and 500



For the majority of the companies involved in the survey, the number

of customers using the wine tourism property’s services did not

exceed 500 (48%) in 2014. However, it should be noted that 24% said

they had more than 5,000 customers per year.

The discrepancy in the replies to this question is noteworthy, since

18% of the wine tourism properties say they had less than 100 visitors

over the course of 2014. At the other extreme, the highest number of

visits per year was 114,000. Out of all the replies received, 4% say

that they had more than 40,000 visits per year.



Tourism Properties

EVOLUTION OF

DEMAND

NUMBER OF END

CUSTOMERS


Tourism Properties

As regards the evolution of demand, 86% of the wine tourism

properties said they had seen an increase in demand (62%) or that it

had remained the same (24%) in comparison to the previous year.

Only 8% of the properties said that demand had fallen.

Demand for Wine Tourism Properties

42%

23%

20%

9%

5% 1%

Individual customers

Travel agencies and tour operatorsInterest groups

Companies operating as conference/event organisersAccommodation properties

Others

As regards the customers’ originating markets, the share was evenly

divided between the domestic and international markets at 50% each.

The international markets indicated as being the most important were

Brazil, which accounted for 45%, and the United Kingdom, Germany

and France at 43%. It should also be noted that around 28% of

respondents said that the USA was one of their most important

markets.

The Brazilian and US markets occupied the sixth and ninth places

respectively in the ranking for international demand in Portugal.

In terms of the main groups comprising demand, individual customers

are the most common (42%), followed by travel agencies and tour

operators (23%) and by interest groups (companies) at 20%.

Demand for this type of facility by companies operating as

conference/event organisers was 9%.



Tourism Properties

MAIN GROUPS

COMPRISING DEMAND

MAIN INTERNATIONAL

MARKETS


Tourism Properties


21%

17% 17%

13%12%

8%

5%

September August July May June October April

1%10%

30%

30%

22%

7%

Between 18 and 24

Between 25 and 34

Between 35 and 44

Between 45 and 54

Between 55 and 64

Most of the customers looking for wine tourism properties were aged

35 or over, particularly the 35-54 age groups, which represented 60%

of total demand.

Around 55% of the properties that replied said that the summer

months (September, August and July) were the most popular.

The most important of all was September, since this is the month

when the grapes are harvested and the traditional wine-related

festivals take place.

The graph also highlights the months of August and July, both with

demand reaching 17%, followed by the months of May, June and

October.

The analysis of the data makes it possible to highlight wine tourism’s

contribution to mitigating the seasonal nature of tourism in Portugal.

Apart from attracting visitors to areas that are less popular as mass

tourism destinations, they also attract visitors at times other than high

season.



Tourism Properties

MOST POPULAR

MONTHS

CUSTOMER AGE

RANGES


Tourism Properties


85%

93%

58%

90%

15% 7% 42% 10%

Visual impairment Hearing impairment

Reduced mobility Intellectual impairment

Yes No

15%

85%

Yes No


Tourism Properties


Tourism Properties

SERVICES OFFERED

FOR CUSTOMERS WITH

SPECIFIC NEEDS

CUSTOMERS WITH

SPECIFIC NEEDS

In terms of accessibility, around 85% of the wine tourism properties

said that they were not sought after by customers with specific

needs, and most of the properties do not offer specific services for

this type of customer.

However, it should be noted that where customers with reduced

mobility are concerned, 42% of the properties do already offer

services adapted to this specific type of demand.

As for other customers with special needs (i.e. those with visual,

hearing or intellectual impairments), the vast majority of wine tourism

properties say they do not have suitable facilities for these visitors.



53%

23%

12%

12%

Up to 2 hours

Half a day

Full day

More than one day

28%

24%16%

11%

7%

14%Wine tasting

Guided tours of the facility

Guided tours of the vineyards

Themed meals

Grape-picking

Others

The most sought-after activities are those that are considered as the

basic services one would expect at a wine tourism property: Wine

tasting (28%) and guided tours of the facility and the vineyards, at

24% and 16% respectively. These three types represent 68% of the

most sought-after activities.

As regards the amount of time customers spend at wine tourism

properties, 53% stay for up to two hours and 23% stay for half a day.

Offering customers innovative experiences at wine tourism

properties and diversifying the range of activities available may be

crucial factors in encouraging visitors to stay longer and spend more.

In the case of customers staying for a full day (12%) or more than

one day (12%), the wine tourism properties in question were those

that offer accommodation and they comprised only a small number

of the respondents to the survey.



Tourism Properties


Tourism Properties

AVERAGE LENGTH OF

CUSTOMERS’ STAYS

AT WINE TOURISM

PROPERTIES

MOST SOUGHT-AFTER

ACTIVITIES


55%

57%

20%

41%

40%

49%

3%

2%

27% 4%

Recognition

Promotion

Revenue

Very important

Important

Not very important

Not at all important

63%

23%

10%

4%Increased

Unchanged

Decreased

Don't know

Source: TP – Wine Tourism

Survey


Survey

CONTRIBUTION OF THE

WINE TOURISM

PROPERTY

EVOLUTION OF

TURNOVER

As regards the evolution of turnover, it should be noted that 63% of

the properties said their turnover rose in 2014 in comparison to the

previous year, and 23% said that it had remained the same. Only

10% said that their turnover had fallen.

When assessing their wine tourism property’s contribution in terms

of recognition and promotion of the company and generating

revenue, the results show that the managers of these properties are

aware of their importance. Around 97% and 96% of the properties

said that recognition and promotion, respectively, constituted a very

important or important contribution.

As for wine tourism properties’ contribution to their companies’

revenue, this is less significant but not irrelevant nevertheless. Only

4% say it was not at all important and 27% that it was not very

important, while the remaining 69% classed this factor as being very

important (20%) or important (49%).

There appears, therefore, to be room for improvement as regards

wine tourism properties’ contribution to the overall business of the

wine-growing companies that run them. This could be achieved by

enriching and diversifying the range of activities offered and by

stepping up promotion and advertising.



75%

24%

1%

Increase

Stable

Decrease


Survey

EVOLUTION OF

TURNOVER IN 2015

Asked about how they expect demand to evolve in 2015, the

respondents were very confident, with 75% saying they expect to

see an increase in demand and only 1% being more sceptical and

foreseeing a fall in demand.



Credits

© Turismo de Portugal, IP

Directorate of Knowledge Management

Methodology:

The survey characterising wine tourism properties was carried out in mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores from May

to July 2015 by means of an online platform. Altogether, this in-depth survey encompassed a universe of 331 wine tourism

properties. The survey achieved a response rate of 42%.

Technical team:

Patrícia Seguro and Miguel Sarmento

Issue:

November 2015

Document published in the


Wine Tourism in Portugal – Characterisation of the offering and demand

http://www.turismodeportugal.pt/Portugu%C3%AAs/ProTurismo/competitividadeeinovacao/setoresdeatividade/Pages/SetoresdeAtividade.aspx

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