Yerevan hosts 8th UN Tourism Global Conference on Wine Tourism

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Yerevan is hosting the 8th UN Tourism Global Conference on Wine Tourism under the theme "Heritage in Every Bottle: Crafting Authentic Wine Tourism Experiences".

This annual conference represents a unique opportunity for experts from across the growing field of wine tourism to work together to find concrete solutions to make tourism an enabler of the way forward towards a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient future for communities.

The event brought together winemakers and experts from various fields from over 20 countries.

Armenian winemakers will present the winemaking heritage and share their experience. Participants will have a unique chance to visit the Areni-1 cave, the earliest known winery in the world.  

Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan delivered remarks at the event, describing the it as a historic occasion and opportunity for Armenia to present its tourism opportunities and winemaking industry.

“All experts concur that there’s a mismatch between the quality and popularity of Armenian wine, meaning our wine is very high quality but not as much known throughout the world. And now we must focus on promoting Armenian wine and present it in the global market,” Papoyan said.

Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General of the UN Tourism, said that eight years ago, when the conference was initiated, he was unaware about Armenian wines, but has since been convinced in its quality after personally tasting it. In terms of promoting wine tourism in the region, he said that Armenia and Georgia can jointly develop wine routes and involve foreign tourists.