Characterisation of the companies and demand
2015 Issue
Wine Tourism in Portugal
2014
ÍNDICE
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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.
Wine Tourism in Portugal | 3
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
Source: TP – Survey on Wine
Tourism Properties
Wine Tourism in Portugal | 4
Characterisation of the Companies
11%
51%
30%
8%
Between 1990 and 1999
Between 2000 and 2009
Between 2010 and 2013
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.
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Source: TP – Survey on Wine
Tourism Properties
LANGUAGES
AVAILABLE ON
WEBSITES
NUMBER OF
LANGUAGES
AVAILABLE ON
WEBSITES
Source: TP – Survey on Wine
Tourism Properties
Promotion of Services
19%
81%
No Yes
30%
13%
21%
36%
Up to 500
Between 501 and 1000
Between 1001 and 5000
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.
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Source: TP – Survey on Wine
Tourism Properties
Source: TP – Survey on Wine
Tourism Properties
PRESENCE ON SOCIAL
MEDIA
NUMBER OF SITE
VISITORS
Promotion of Services
62%
24%
8%
6%
Increased
Unchanged
Decreased
Don't know
18%
30%
20%
8%
24% Up to 100
Between 101 and 500
Between 501 and 2000
Between 2001 and 5000
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.
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Source: TP – Survey on Wine
Tourism Properties
EVOLUTION OF
DEMAND
NUMBER OF END
CUSTOMERS
Source: TP – Survey on Wine
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%.
Wine Tourism in Portugal | 8
Source: TP – Survey on Wine
Tourism Properties
MAIN GROUPS
COMPRISING DEMAND
MAIN INTERNATIONAL
MARKETS
Source: TP – Survey on Wine
Tourism Properties
Demand for Wine 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.
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Source: TP – Survey on Wine
Tourism Properties
MOST POPULAR
MONTHS
CUSTOMER AGE
RANGES
Source: TP – Survey on Wine
Tourism Properties
Demand for Wine Tourism Properties
85%
93%
58%
90%
15% 7% 42% 10%
Visual impairment Hearing impairment
Reduced mobility Intellectual impairment
Yes No
15%
85%
Yes No
Source: TP – Survey on Wine
Tourism Properties
Source: TP – Survey on Wine
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.
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Demand for Wine Tourism Properties
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.
Wine Tourism in Portugal | 11
Source: TP – Survey on Wine
Tourism Properties
Source: TP – Survey on Wine
Tourism Properties
AVERAGE LENGTH OF
CUSTOMERS’ STAYS
AT WINE TOURISM
PROPERTIES
MOST SOUGHT-AFTER
ACTIVITIES
Demand for Wine Tourism Properties
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
Source: TP – Wine Tourism
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.
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Demand for Wine Tourism Properties
75%
24%
1%
Increase
Stable
Decrease
Source: TP – Wine Tourism
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.
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Demand for Wine Tourism Properties
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 | 14
Wine Tourism in Portugal – Characterisation of the offering and demand