Municipality takes wine tourism projects to the general meeting of the Great Wine Capitals

Lausanne, Switzerland, hosted the Annual General Meeting of Great Wine Capitals (GWC) - International Network of Capitals of Large Vineyards, in which the Municipality of Porto represents the wine regions of the Douro, Porto and Vinhos Verdes, last week.

The Municipality participated in different sessions of thematic groups with the objective of evaluating ongoing projects and project proposals to be developed during the next year.

The City Councillor for Tourism and Internationalization of the City of Porto was part of the Executive Committee, which debated and approved the activity plan to be developed in 2024.

"It is with great pride that we highlight all the initiatives implemented and designed by Porto as a founding member of the Network, and we have reinforced the city's position as a privileged wine tourism destination, along with the projection that it has also had as a gastronomy destination, namely in the context of participation in the Gastronomic Tourism Forum of the World Tourism Organization, held this month in San Sebastian", said Catarina Santos Cunha.

The municipal official made known several activities implemented and/or designed at a local level. Highlighting the launch of the "Best Of Club – Porto", which was highlighted by the managing director of the GWC, Catherine Leparmentier, as a successful initiative, which counted on the interest, motivation and involvement of both the winners who were constituted as founding members and the institutions of the sector. It was also mentioned that the 2nd edition of Wine & Travel Week will be held in Porto, in February 2024, where the Great Wine Capitals and the award-winning Best Of Wine Tourism 2024 will be represented, in addition to the next interim meeting of the Great Wine Capitals, scheduled for May 2024.

It also notes the representation of the city in an initiative proposed by Napa Valley, to share good practices among Great Wine Capitals members, in matters of common interest and transversal to all. Porto, represented by the director for Carbon Neutrality, Daniel Freitas, presented the Parque da Asprela (Asprela Park), as an innovative project implemented to mitigate the effects of climate change.

The city was also present in an international wine tasting, where wines from the Douro and Vinho Verde regions were presented and promoted to an international audience, along with the prestigious wines from the other member regions of this Network. About 120 people participated in the event, with 102 wines being tasted.

The renewal of the Partnership Agreement was signed, now integrating the signature of the representatives of the 12 GWC member cities and there was also a conference on the wine tourism sector, from tradition to innovation.

The Annual General Meeting culminated with the Best Of Wine Tourism awards ceremony, during which the Global award winners from each member city were announced. The event was attended by 127 delegates from the member cities, 43 business delegates/companies, including the Portuguese Sogrape, Vale do Tábua, Quinta da Aveleda and Casa de Mateus, in addition to the 16 winners of the Best Of Wine Tourism.

About Great Wine Capitals

The International Network of Large Vineyard Capitals is an organization formed by cities recognized worldwide for their wines and wine regions, which aims to promote wine tourism in member cities and regions, encouraging economic, academic, and cultural development in their community, through exchanges and joint projects.

Currently, Great Wine Capitals integrates 12 cities and their respective wine regions, coming from various points of the globe: Adelaide (South Australia), Bilbao-Rioja (Spain), Bordeaux (France), Cape Town - Cape Winelands (South Africa), Hawke's Bay (New Zealand), Lausanne (Switzerland), Mainz-Rheinhessen (Germany), Mendoza (Argentina), Porto (Portugal), San Francisco – Napa Valley (USA), Valparaiso – Casablanca Valley (Chile) and Verona (Italy).

The Municipality of Porto is a founding member and officially represents the wine regions of Douro, Porto, and Vinhos Verdes in the Network.