The winners of the 5th edition of the Best Of Wine Tourism are announced!

The 5th edition of the Swiss Wine Tourism Meetings and the national “Best Of Wine Tourism” competition took place this Friday, 2 September at the Château d'Aigle, in Aigle (VD). These events brought together, in a full hall, professionals and enthusiasts wanting to know more about wine tourism. The Swiss Wine Tourism Meetings took place under the sign of gastronomy and the interregional federation. The “Best Of Wine Tourism” rewarded seven Swiss wine tourism experiences. The jury's favourite went to “The First Wine Hotel in Ticino” - Hotel Conca Bella Boutique Hotel in Vacallo in Ticino, which won the Terre & Nature award.

One day, two events, one goal: to encourage synergies around wine tourism in Switzerland!

This year, during the Swiss Wine Tourism Meetings, the main theme was gastronomy and the interregional federation. This day was opened by a speech by Mr Frédéric Borloz, State Councillor of Vaud. Conferences and workshops highlighted the essential role played by gastronomy in the development of wine tourism. “The more the restaurants work hand in hand with local products, the more our country will be perceived as a gourmet destination in its own right”, comments Gilles Meystre, member of the committees of GastroSuisse and Switzerland Tourism.

On this day, all the regions participating in the Swiss Wine Tour came together to symbolise the desire of market players to join forces and develop a nationwide offer. The marketing of an exclusive interregional product has been announced. This product will be on sale on the booking platform www.swisswinetour.com in spring 2023.

At the end of the meetings, the participants had the pleasure of tasting wines and local products from the Aigle region during the midday meal, while the post-ceremony aperitif allowed the public to discover wines from the six Swiss wine regions as well as award-winning wines at the last edition of the Mondial du Chasselas.

The “Best Of Wine Tourism” competition rewards innovation

Since 2021, the designation “Swiss Wine Tourism Award” has given way to “Best Of Wine Tourism”, in order to meet the requirements of the international network of Great Wine Capitals, of which the City of Lausanne has been a part since 2018.

The regional “Best Of Wine Tourism” awards showcase the richness and diversity of the Swiss offer in this area. “We are delighted to discover each year that the wine tourism offer is becoming more and more innovative and increasingly supported by players other than those of the wine industry”, comments Robert Cramer, President of the Jury. “This demonstrates the still under-exploited potential of the intersectoral and interregional federation.”

The offers “A la Découverte des Titans » (Provins-Valais), “Vignes & Culture” (ACP Agency – based in Neuchâtel), “Escape Game au cœur du vignoble genevois » (La Cave de Genève - Geneva), “La Vigne Swiss Wine Therapy” (Travel Factory Sàrl – Vaud), “The First Wine Hotel in Ticino” (Conca Bella Boutique Hotel in Vacallo – Ticino), “Tavolata im Naturpark Pfyn-Finges” (Naturpark Pfyn-Finges in Salgesch – Valais) and Cave Ardévaz, (Boven family in St-Pierre-de-Clages – Valais), respectively won the awards in the categories Architecture/Landscapes, Art/Culture, Discovery/Innovation, Environment/Development, Catering/Hospitality, Services/Organisation and Local Artisans. Domaine Bovy in Chexbres (VD) was rewarded for its pioneering wine tourism activities and offers with an honorary award.

The Terre & Nature award rewarded the “favourite” offer among all those submitted to the jury. The winner of this edition is “The First Wine Hotel in Ticino” - Hotel Conca Bella Boutique Hotel in Vacallo in Ticino.

The winners were chosen by a professional jury and a general public jury from among more than 40 files submitted by candidates from all over Switzerland. Thanks to the integration of Lausanne into the Great Wine Capitals network (GWC), the winners of the various categories of the Swiss “Regional Best Of Wine Tourism” have the opportunity to automatically participate in the international competition for the “Global Best Of Wine Tourism” – a title that rewards the best Swiss offer among the winners of the national competition categories. The results of this competition will be announced at the gala of the next General Assembly of the Great Wine Capitals network on 3 November in Mendoza (Argentina).

The Great Wine Capitals General Assembly and the Best Of Wine Tourism 2023 Awards

In October 2023, Lausanne will have the honour of hosting the Annual General Assembly of the Great Wine Capitals network. During this international gathering, the “Best Of Wine Tourism” will be awarded. A wonderful opportunity to demonstrate that Switzerland fully deserves its place on the world map of prestigious wine tourism destinations.