Photo : Sarah O'Shea / Pexels
How can we develop wine tourism in 2026?
Wine tourism is no longer a bonus — it’s a driving force
For a long time, welcoming visitors to the estate was a secondary activity. A side activity. Something we did ‘when we had time’.
Those days are gone. For many wine estates, wine tourism has become a direct source of income, a sales channel, and above all a way to build a lasting relationship with customers.
But developing your wine tourism business cannot be improvised. Here’s what really works.
Start with what you have — not what you imagine
The first mistake is trying to create a wine tourism offering ‘from scratch’, by imagining what visitors might like to see. The right approach is the opposite: start with what already exists, with what is authentic, with what is unique to your estate.
Do your cellars have distinctive architecture? That’s an asset. Does your family history span several generations? That’s a resource. Are your viticultural practices unusual or socially conscious? That’s a story.
Successful wine tourism tells a true story — not a staged performance.
Structuring the visitor experience
Once you know what story you want to tell, you need to structure how you tell it.
This involves several practical elements:
The visitor route — which areas are open to the public? In what order do visitors discover them? Each stage must serve a purpose: to inform, to move, to surprise.
The pace — not all visitors move at the same pace. Some want to see everything in 20 minutes. Others will linger for an hour. A well-designed route caters to both.
The narrative — what turns a visit into an experience is the story being told. Not the technical specifications of the wine — but the human story behind every decision, every plot of land, every vintage.
Minimal signage
The audio tour needs a physical starting point: a QR code somewhere on the estate, at the entrance.
This is a minor constraint. And it’s also an opportunity.
Some estates take this opportunity to create something tasteful: a small poster printed on fine paper, an engraved wooden sign, an elegant slate. Nothing expensive, nothing complex — but something that says ‘we’ve thought of you’ right from the moment you arrive.
Signage doesn’t need to be exhaustive. Two or three well-placed signs are enough to guide visitors. The key is that it should be consistent with the estate’s identity — understated in a minimalist estate, warm and welcoming in a family-run winery, artistic in a venue that likes to break the mould.
Welcoming visitors without being constantly on hand
This is the central paradox of wine tourism for small businesses: we want to welcome more visitors, but we don’t always have someone available to show them round.
The solution isn’t to turn visitors away. It’s to design an experience that runs independently.
A digital audio tour does exactly that. Visitors scan a QR code at the entrance, enter a 4-digit access code, and start their tour on their smartphone — no app to download, no internet connection required. The narration guides them through every stage. Your staff remain available for what really matters: wine tasting, sales and building personal connections.
Opening your estate to international visitors
Wine tourism is attracting an increasingly international clientele. Belgians, Dutch, British, Americans, Germans — many are seeking authentic experiences in French vineyards.
But welcoming them without speaking their language is often a barrier. A multilingual tour solves this problem: the same content, translated and adapted, is accessible in the visitor’s language as soon as they scan the QR code.
This isn’t a luxury — it’s essential for attracting this clientele.
A response to the crisis in wine consumption?
Wine consumption has been falling in France for several years. Younger generations are drinking less — but differently. They want to understand what they’re drinking. To know the origin, the winemaker, and the choices behind each bottle.
This is a fundamental trend, not a passing fad.
Wine tourism meets this need exactly. Not by trying to persuade people to drink more — but by creating the conditions for a relationship of trust to develop between the visitor and the estate.
A visitor who has walked through your vineyards, heard you talk about your terroir, and understood your winemaking choices — that visitor chooses you. And they tell others about it.
Well-designed wine tourism doesn’t sell wine. It creates ambassadors.
Measuring and adjusting
Developing your wine tourism also means understanding what works.
How many visitors use your tour route? Which stops hold their attention for the longest? Which languages are most commonly spoken? This data, available in a dedicated dashboard, enables you to tailor the content, enhance the experience and make better decisions.
Without data, you’re making improvements blindly. With data, you’re making improvements with purpose.
Where do you actually start?
Developing your wine tourism doesn’t require a massive investment or a complete overhaul. It requires clarity and a systematic approach.
Three questions to get you started:
What do you want your visitors to take away? An emotion, a story, a conviction about the way you work.
Which areas can you safely open to the public? Vineyards, gardens, tasting rooms, exhibition spaces — the areas you can open up define the setting.
Do you have the content to tell your story? Photos, texts, anecdotes — you have more than you realise.
Once you’ve asked these three questions, everything else can fall into place. Gradually, at your own pace.
Photo: Sarah O’Shea / Pexels
Xavier Adraste is the founder of Merci Gabin, a platform offering digital audio tours for wine estates.