There is no better time for Cape wine producers to invest in urban tourism than now, Jonathan Steyn, a wine business lecturer from the UCT Graduate School of Business told delegates at the Business of Wine and Food Tourism conference.

“Urban wine tourism is still very much a new field and we might not have a clear idea of how to unlock wine tourism in our cities, but there is no doubt it offers huge potential.”

With research indicating that up to 80% of all international tourists travel to a city first whilst it is estimated that at least 70% of all tourism spend occurs in urban areas, he said there was much to be gained from developing urban wine tourism experiences.

“Research also indicates that tourists are looking for real and authentic experiences. We need to look at how we can create these experiences for visitors in our cities using our wine offering.”

According to Steyn South Africa’s rural winelands are already a major draw card for tourists, but much more can be achieved by bringing wine tourism to its major cities.

Steyn said at present South Africa lacked real data when it came to urban centres and wine tourism.

“First and foremost we need to develop an understanding of what the urban tourist wants and then script the experience for the consumer,” he said. “There is no doubt that there is immense potential for the country as a whole in developing the wine tourism industry as a whole and making wine more accessible to the urban tourist.”

He said there was no reason why an international tourist in Johannesburg could not be exposed to South Africa’s vibrant wine industry. This would also not detract from the rural experience on the wine farm.

“By creating a wine tasting room in the centre of the city we are creating a portal to the wine farm,” he said. “Urbanisation is a reality that will impact on our tourism sector. We cannot ignore it. Estimates are that consumer spending in 15 African cities will increase by 291% by 2030.”

He said connecting the tourist in an experiential way with the tourism offering would become more important in the future. With urbanisation on the increase finding experiences in the gritty urban environment would have to be part and parcel of a country’s tourism offering. “South Africa’s food and wine offer a very real way of doing just that,” said Steyn.