The wine industry of the Republic of Moldova for the first time celebrates World Wine Tourism Day on November 14 so as to revitalize the tourism industry. Tourists who are willing to familiarize themselves with the tradition and culture of regions associated with winegrowing and winemaking are invited to mark World Wine Tourism Day together with winners. They should yet have a COVID-19 vaccine certificate or a negative test result on them.
In a news conference at IPN, Sergiu Manea, president of the Employers Association of the Tourism Industry of the Republic of Moldova, said World Wine Tourism Day has been celebrated since 2009 on the second Sunday of November. Its goal is to highlight the culture and traditions of the cities and regions that are associated with winegrowing and winemaking. Wine tourism consists in the tasting, drinking and buying of wine directly from the winery and can include visits to wine cellars, vineyards, famous restaurants and wine festivals. In the countries with developed wine tourism, the economy recovers gradually after the pandemic.
Sergiu Manea noted the wine industry is a strategic sector that needs better organization on which they bank a lot. This problem should be solved at digital level and wine tourism should be integrated into other areas so as to make a qualitative leap that would contribute to the further prosperity of wine tourism. The higher is the number of tourists visiting winemaking countries like Moldova, the larger is the export of wine products, primarily to the countries from which guests come.
Parascovia Ignat, of the National Office of Vine and Wine, said that wine tourism remains the most important sector by its contribution to Moldova’s economy owing to the unique tourist attractions that hold Guinness records, such as the Mileștii Mici cellars, the Cricova underground cellars or the Leuntea-Vin historical cellars. There are French-style destinations that attract tourists from all over the world. These are small wineries that developed the past few years despite the pandemic. They are hopeful that things will return to normality in 2022 and they will welcome tourists from all over the world. In 2019, the wineries hosted over 240,000 tourists, which is 15% of the total number of tourists who came to Moldova, leaving over US$8 million in the national economy.
Victoria David, of the Ministry of Culture, stated that their institution welcomes the Employers Association of the Tourism Industry’s intention to promote World Wine Tourism Day in Moldova. Wine tourism continues to be the calling card of the Republic of Moldova, which has such specific forms of tourism as rural, cultural, religious, ecological, balneal and adventure tourism. However, wine tourism remains the most important one. It is known that 2% of the world vineyards are in Moldova, which is among the top 20 winemaking countries and ranks 13th by the export of wine. Moldova has two of the largest wine cellars and wine collections: Cricova and Mileștii Mici.
Valeriu Mihaluță, of Chateau Vartely, said the wine industry is ready to cope with foreign visitors. Recently, Chateau Vartely was chosen the winner of an international contest in Italy for its lighting projector installed in the wine maturation room, which makes the winery much more attraction. For her part, Diana Vieru, Castel Mimi tourism manager, noted that those from the tourism sector of Moldova can be proud of Moldova’s history and can boast of it, while this holiday is important for Moldova.
Mihail Druță, who heads the Sommelier Association of the Republic of Moldova, said the wine is not only a drink of Bacchus. It is a culture that can reveal traditions and the history. The wine tourism is not only drinking tourism. It can also include family tourism. The wine can say a lot about destinations, customs and cuisine. He is happy that Moldova has extraordinary potential, with both small and large wineries.
