WineGB’s 2024 UK Wine Tourism report recorded the incredible figure of 55% growth in wine tourism visits over just two years.
It is estimated that tourism accounts for around a quarter of total vineyard income overall, and that visitor numbers are likely to continue to rise.
In order to keep up the momentum, WineGB has outlined seven key actions that are needed to help this upward trajectory continue for the UK wine industry. These actions are aimed squarely at the Government, in a rallying cry to policy makers.
- Cellar Door Duty Relief – A more supportive excise system and relief on Cellar Door Duty to drive sales and support tourism.
- Promotion – Provide more accessible and better funded tourism promotion partnerships by making Local Visitor Economy Partnerships and similar organisations accessible to smaller businesses and increase the budgets of national tourist boards to make them more competitive.
- International benefits – Reintroduce tax-free shopping for international visitors to the UK, make entry visas more affordable and waive the Electronic Travel Authorisation fee for transiting passengers, over 70s, under 18s and visitors to Northern Ireland.
- Better planning – Make the planning system in England and Wales more consistent by allocating more staff and resources. Allocate vineyard and winery planning applications to planning officers with knowledge of the industry and its business models.
- Training and skills – Work towards enhanced cooperation between Government, local authorities, education providers and the sector to meet the specialist needs required for high quality wine tourism experiences.
- Rural infrastructure – Invest in local transport, energy, water and communications across England and Wales.
- Signposting – Make destination signposting affordable to vineyards and wineries to make them more visible to tourists on the open road.
A range of unique experiences
Vineyard Magazine spoke to WineGB’s CEO, Nicola Bates, to find out more about her thoughts on growth in UK wine tourism.
What are your thoughts on the reasons behind the growth in wine tourism and your projections for the future?
Wine tourism is an important part of our industry, accounting for a quarter of winery income on average. With the diversification and investment in cellar door facilities in recent years, it is no surprise that visitor numbers have increased. We are still collecting data for the updated figures for 2024. However, with 60% of respondents to last year’s survey planning to imminently invest in wine tourism and with a potential pool of 16 million visitors interested in visiting a winery according to VisitBritain, the future looks bright.
Who is demonstrating best practice in UK wine tourism right now?
The wine tourism experience in the UK is extremely diverse. While tours and tastings form the backbone of current offers, there is a range of unique experiences from winery slides and wine trains to festivals and wildlife walks. For a flavour of what’s on offer, take a look at our Visit a Vineyard Guide or visit the WineGB Producer Directory to find more experiences in your area.
What are WineGB’s top tips for vineyards who are looking to diversify their revenue by harnessing tourism?
Firstly, get involved with WineGB. Over 400 people have had face-to-face tourism training in the past 18 months. This included placemaking within the vineyard to act as a draw to the local area in conjunction with our Partner, Knight Frank. To help producers attract international visitors we partnered with VisitEngland, who provided a day-long course, based on Wine Australia’s exceptional tourism training, and supported members to craft an effective strategy to position themselves to the world. There are also various resources available on the WineGB website.
Vineyards looking to invest in wine tourism should do their research, including speaking to those already established in this field. A strong understanding of the motivations of their potential visitors, how they will promote their tourism offering, and their unique value proposition is key. Getting involved with their Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) and other local and regional tourism promotional bodies will also help them get connected with other complementary businesses in their area.
Is the industry getting the support from Government that it needs to grow?
In short, no. We were very disappointed to see that VisitBritain’s ‘GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland’ promotion programme budget was cut by 41% – cut from £18.85 million to £10.57 million. VisitBritain, VisitEngland, and Visit Wales are operating on promotion support and marketing budgets which are significantly lower than those given to competitor agencies in neighbouring European countries.
In addition, our sector would hugely benefit from Wine Tourism Relief for duty so producers can invest in local, high skilled rural jobs. Equally more awareness and knowledge of our industry within the planning system, and better local infrastructure to help tourists reach their end destination would also be of great benefit.
Read the full UK Wine Tourism report on the WineGB website: www.winegb.co.uk
Case study: White Heron Estate
Vineyard Magazine caught up with Jo Hilditch, the Managing Director of Whittern Estate, to find out more about how they are expanding their offering and reaching out to tourists.
Nestled in the beautiful Herefordshire countryside, the family-owned Whittern Estate has the benefit of six self-catered holiday cottages on site at the 700-acre landholding. As well as producing sparkling wine, they also make a range of liqueurs from estate-grown and other locally sourced fruit.
The Whittern is the old Herefordshire dialect for ‘White Heron’ – the Wit ‘ern. The estate has been managed by the Green family since 1876. This proud heritage doesn’t stop them from looking forward. New for 2025 White Heron is now offering e-Bike tours to guests.
What does the White Heron Estate offer to visitors?
White Heron Estate in concept is a bit like a French chateau (tongue in cheek) where we have wonderful old Victorian buildings where you can stay on the estate, meet the owner and experience our 35 acres of vineyards and the rest of the farm. With a large number of hybrid e-bikes you can get around the farm easily and it’s really good fun experiencing talks of interests from the “chatelaine” (!) or from another member of our staff.
As long as you know how to ride a bike you’ll have a great and fun-filled ride, as well as learning all about commercial farming, diversifications and growing fruit, including of course grapes. And if you really don’t want to ride a bike we can take you on a farm walk – it obviously doesn’t cover as much ground, but it certainly covers as much education.
How important is wine tourism to the business?
At the moment it’s not that important as it’s small, but it’s an area we really want to focus on, to broaden our tourism reach and to bring interest to a growing wine industry in the UK. Our wine is made out of the cooler clime grapes that we grow; as we are in a wetter and cooler part of the country (Madeleine Angevine, Reichensteiner and Seyval Blanc). Telling people about it is fun, but growing and selling the grapes and wine is even better!
Are you getting the support you need to fulfil your ambitions?
We really want to grow this – our industry in the UK is small but perfectly formed and through wine tourism we can get a broader reach. In Herefordshire it’s still tiny – I think there are around 150 acres altogether and we have about 35 of them.
The support we have got for tourism through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund/Herefordshire Council has been brilliant. We were able to part finance the e-bikes, the tents for the tastings and feasts as well as the bike shed with solar panels. We also received funding from the UK Cultural Fund to wholly pay for the instructional and educational signs.
How has your experience of opening up the estate to guests
been so far?
Luckily we’ve been open a while to visitors, and they’ve been nothing but respectful! I love educating people about what we do – farming is so important to our nation. Connecting the consumer with the food that they eat and the drinks they imbibe has been a passion of mine for a long time, so I am happy to be able to extend this further.
Case study: Simpsons’ Wine Estate
Helen Power from Simpsons told us more about the offer at Simpsons’ in Kent and the value of tourism.
The Simpsons’ Wine Estate in Kent has a well-established and extensive wine tourism offer. Charles and Ruth Simpson have built successful wine businesses in both the Languedoc and just outside Canterbury over the past 20 years.
They began producing wines at Domaine de Sainte Rose in 2002. All of the wines from this 40-hectare vineyard are exported, mainly to the UK. They bought into the burgeoning UK wine industry in 2012, with 30 hectares of vineyards producing estate-grown still and sparkling wines.
What can visitors to Simpsons’ expect?
The Glass House Tasting Room is an elegant space, which sits neatly on our third floor, overlooking our state-of-the-art winery. It was opened in 2018 and provides a warm and inviting space for our guests to enjoy guided tastings during our experiences.
Over the years we have curated a trio of core events to offer our visitors. They each offer something different and often we have people book in for a Tasting Experience as a lovely introduction and then return to do the full tour.
We are only open on select dates shown on our Experiences page and we like to host smaller sized groups. We really believe in the quality of the experience and creating a fun and informal atmosphere so that guests really feel welcome and immersed in the tour. The weekend tours and Sunset Sessions are exceptionally popular.
How do these experiences fit in with Simpsons’ wider tourism plan?
We love sharing our vines and wines with our visitors and we have seen a real increase in demand for tours as the English wine industry continues to expand, our wines have become more well-known and our international presence has grown too. However, we like to keep our experiences relatively bespoke and hand-held so that we can be attentive with our guests and ensure they have a wonderful visit.
We are also really proud to work with some amazing local food providers as part of our catered events, to continue our commitment to supporting local and seasonal, as well as it being an important part of our sustainability programme.
What makes a visit to Simpsons’ unique?
There are so many elements to our tours that really showcase our unique and idyllic location and the dedication and expertise poured into all areas of Simpsons’ Wine Estate – from grape to glass.
Yet, the most iconic of them all occurs at the end of your visit, in the form of the “Fruit-Chute” helter-skelter slide. We believe we are the only winery in the world to have this, as a fun way to end the visitor experience. Taking guests from our Glass House Tasting Room down to the winery floor, guests can finish their visit to Simpsons’ with a flourish!
Does Simpsons work collaboratively with other businesses on encouraging tourism to the area?
We are really fortunate to be located in such a dynamic area, in a county famed for its beauty and brimming with an amazing array of local produce.
We specialise in working with some incredible hospitality venues in the area to showcase the best in local food and drink. This includes the boutique The PIG Hotel at Bridge Place, which only a few minutes down the road from our Estate and offers decadent overnight stays and delicious seasonal and home-grown dishes. It is perfect to enjoy the rural charm of the glorious Kent countryside or why not take a short trip to the coast, which is also home to many amazing restaurants, bars and things to see and do.
Simpsons’ Wine Estate is also a founding member of The Wine Garden of England collective, comprising nine pioneering wineries in Kent, which are committed to creating a world-class wine tourism trail across the county. It gives visitors a chance to create their own itinerary to explore the top vineyards in the area during their stay.
How important is wine tourism to your business?
Wine tourism is really important to us at Simpsons’, with a focus on the quality of the experience we offer our guests. Our total revenue for this as a business is around 10% and plays a vital role in bringing our wines to life and enabling consumers to see first-hand life here at the Estate.
It has been amazing to witness the increase in international interest in our wines and to have more overseas visitors coming to our cellar door, including some journalists and travel TV programmes to spread the word too. Wine tourism is gaining traction in the UK and we have the opportunity to create such a positive and innovative impression.
- 90 minute Wine Tasting Experience
- Three hour Vineyard and Winery Tour and Tasting – Walking the Roman Road vineyard, exploring the winery and then a tasting in the Glass House
- Three hour Sunset Sessions – An evening tour of the vineyard with a glass of English sparkling wine, followed by a guided visit of the winery and a tasting experience with paired food platters featuring locally sourced produce.
- www.simpsonswine.com/pages/experiences
