The Robertson Wine Valley will be temporarily closed from 1 July 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and a major loss in tourism revenue. The beloved wine valley will be closed until further notice, but it’s not all doom and gloom.
The Robertson Wine Valley Association will be taking this time of closure and using it to forge ahead with current plans of integration with tourism involving all five Langeberg towns.
While the pandemic has hit wine tourism very hard, it also enables the Association to complete an initiative that was started over two years ago: To combine the Wine Valley Association’s tourism-oriented activities into a single administration with the local tourism bodies.
This will include Ashton, Bonnievale, McGregor, Montagu and Robertson. The original target date was July 2020 but are now aiming for the launch by mid-2021.
The new combined destination marketing office will take on most of the traditional functions of the Robertson Wine Valley, such as wine events and generic marketing, with wine continuing to be an important facet as it’s geared to be a future growth engine for the region.
This collaboration is in tune with current tourism trends followed by other Western Cape wine regions as well as international counterparts.
Wine-lovers, leisure travellers and adventure-seeking tourists are all looking for cellar experiences beyond a quick tasting. The numerous attractions in this beautiful and fruitful valley make it possible for the wine estates to fulfil this demand while building their brands.
The Wine Route Association will re-open in 2021 with future functions focus largely on wine-PR, technical support to winemakers, wine orientated initiatives to support our Wine of Origin Robertson status.
‘We recognise that the tourism market has been growing, evolving and demanding new developments from the wine industry. We believe these require the dynamic changes that we are implementing, a work already in process before we had to cope with ramifications of the pandemic and current lockdown.
‘The Robertson Wine Valley Associations is ready to embrace this new era of tourism as we continue to offer wine enthusiasts some of the finest wine and warmest country hospitality alongside a wealth of diverse experiences across this wide, splendid and peaceful valley,’ said the Association in a statement.
Robertson Wine Valley, by Tyson Jopson.
