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Every year, around 50 million people travel to the German wine regions primarily for the wine and, with expenditure of 5.5 billion euros, provide around 75,000 jobs there. This is the result of a scientific study by Geisenheim University and the German Wine Institute (DWI) with the support of all 13 regional wine promotions on the economic importance of wine tourism.
According to the study, tourism creates an estimated total of 412,900 jobs in the wine-growing regions, with a total turnover of 29.9 billion euros per year. Around 13 percent of all tourists travel to the regions specifically for the wine and visit one or more wineries during their stay. With a share of 18 percent of total turnover, they make an above-average contribution to value creation.
The data is based on a two-year study for which 900 wineries and 4,500 tourists were surveyed in all German wine-growing regions. The differences between wine tourists and non-wine tourists resulted from their detailed information on how much money they spent on which services during their holidays. The experts calculated the economic significance from the total expenditure and the number of visitors.
The study was initiated against the backdrop of the federal government's statement in 2015 that it considers wine tourism to be an important market segment. DWI Managing Director Monika Reule sees this data as an important decision-making basis for further tourism investments in the wine-growing regions: "Many wine regions have not yet fully exploited their potential," Reule estimates. The two scientists, Prof. Dr. Gergely Szolnoki and Maximilian Tafel of the Geisenheim University of Applied Sciences emphasise: "Wine tourism is of enormous economic importance in Germany and should therefore continue to be a focus of policy In Focus."
(uka / Photo: German Wine Institute)