FINE shows at Madrid Fusión the link between wine tourism and gastronomy

Feria de Valladolid presents at Madrid Fusión the fifth edition of FINE, the International Wine Tourism Fair to be held on March 13 and 14 in Valladolid. It is an event for professionals in which 140 wineries and territories from Spain, Portugal and Italy will participate, as well as nearly a hundred tour operators from more than twenty countries.

The linking of wine tourism and gastronomy will be one of the issues to be addressed this year at FINE’s technical conferences, a space in which experts from different profiles will speak about successful models in various regions of the world or what are the demands of tour operators to include a destination in their programming.

In this presentation, which takes place in the space of Saborea España, intervene the Councillor for Tourism, Events and City Brand of the City of Valladolid, Blanca Jiménez; the provincial deputy of Tourism, Moisés Santana; the president of the Executive Committee of Feria de Valladolid, Víctor Caramanzana; and the general director of Feria de Valladolid, Alberto Alonso.

Blanca Jiménez stressed that “FINE has the Valladolid brand in its DNA, a project born in Valladolid with a universal vocation, in which everyone who has something to say about wine tourism should be present. For his part, Moisés Santana pointed out “the provincial institution’s commitment to FINE and wine tourism, to wine culture” and highlighted elements such as the Peñafiel Wine Museum, which receives 60,000 visits a year.

The fifth edition of FINE increases both the number of wineries and routes as well as the number of national and international buyers, so that the map of wine tourism regions is expanded with the incorporation of Las Marcas, from Italy, the Ferrer Miranda group, Abadía da Cova and Marqués de Riscal, among others.

The president of the Executive Committee of Feria de Valladolid, Víctor Caramanzana, pointed out that “FINE, an original event of Feria de Valladolid, unique in the world, puts the focus on a model of tourism with great projection and in which Spain can play a relevant role in the international market”.

He also stressed that FINE’s global vocation has been endorsed by the granting of “full internationality” by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise. In addition to customs benefits for international participants, inclusion in this trade fair category is recognition of the quality of the event, the positive progress made in recent editions and the support of the sector.

In this sense, Caramanzana referred to the involvement of private companies, professional organizations and public institutions “without which the development of FINE would not be possible. This presentation is an example of this, with the backing of the Valladolid City Council and the Provincial Council, in addition to Turespaña, professional organizations such as the Spanish Wine Federation, the Spanish Confederation of Travel Agencies and the pioneering wineries: Protos, Dehesa de los Canónigos and Abadía Retuerta, to which the Ferrer Miranda Group and Bodegas Alvear are added as collaborators”.

The general manager of Feria de Valladolid, Alberto Alonso, added that “FINE has excellent prospects for wineries, territories and tour operators. We have grown in supply and demand and the figure of 1,600 pre-arranged meetings will be exceeded, to which will be added the spontaneous meetings generated in the different scenarios; because FINE is a contracting market whose activity is not limited to the meeting tables, but extends to the technical seminars, lunch and visits to regions of Spain and Italy so that tour operators can learn in situ the details that will allow them to create their wine tourism products”.