By Christian Riddell
While fall means shorter days and fading tan lines, it also presents a palate-pleasing opportunity for filling your dispatch sheets; there’s no better time than autumn for wine-based tourism! Wine tours, tastings and vineyard outings are all on the menu, and with people spending more and more discretionary income on culinary and wine tourism, now is the time to build this part of your business.
For those familiar with this market, you know that crush is a big deal and right around the corner. If you live in a warmer climate, you may already be in the middle of it; for others, it may be a few weeks or even months before harvest and the subsequent crush.
This is big business in the wine industry, and the highlight of a grower’s year. It’s also the peak of wine tourism season when wine isn’t just something to pair with a nice dinner. Instead, it takes center stage.
Many growers, wineries and even restaurants will be executing a major push to bring in the masses. From wineries hosting crush and bottle activities, to tour operators running food and wine tours, the opportunities that exist during this season are as real as they are fleeting.
So, how do you put more grape-stomping, wine-loving culinary tourists on your coaches? It’s probably more simple and interesting than you think.
First assignment? Go out and learn what your area offers in terms of wineries, tasting rooms, vineyards and growers. By “go out and learn,” I mean exactly that. (This is more than a computer search, though it may start there.) You’ve got to look for local wineries that can accommodate a group large enough to fill a motorcoach. Many tasting rooms have only a few seats and a cheese board available, and cramming 45 people into a small space like that simply isn’t possible. Other facilities would love to host a big group if it weren’t for their location, such as being at the end of a narrow, two-mile dirt road with no way to turn a coach around. That poses a real problem. But here’s the good news: You’ll also find wineries that are completely equipped to entertain a large group and would be happy to do so.
After scoping out the local players, the next step is to look for festivals or other community-based activities around crush or harvest time. In areas where wine is big business (California, Oregon, Virginia and even Texas hill country), you’ll likely find promotions around these activities.
Once you’ve done your homework, it’s time to reach out and establish yourself with wine-loving, safety-embracing experts who use quality equipment and provide the best in customer service. Go talk with these players about how you can help bring more people to their venues. Find out when they’re busy and what they currently do to attract business. Keep in mind that while the mission of your visit is to put more people on your coaches, the mission of the people you are visiting is to bring more people to their facility or event. While those two objectives may seem compatible in your mind, they probably won’t add up in the minds of those you are meeting with.
In my experience, most vineyards have never thought of working with motorcoach operators to get more business. As soon as they start to think you’re trying to sell them “transportation solutions,” they shut down. However, if you get them talking about wine tours, progressive dining, vine-to-table trips and customer outings, they get excited and will, in turn, start to think favorable of coaches full of people.
The crush season is a great time to build new relationships that will help keep your dispatch sheets full for years to come. Approaching this as an opportunity to sell more charters, to more people, for more money will help you reach your goals and keep your fleet on the road.
This is only one of over 20 campaigns that the Motorcoach Marketing Council has developed to help you grow. Find access to free tools, resources and training at motorcoachmarketing.org. There you’ll find fun, conversation-provoking wine (and other) posts that are easily usable on your Facebook, Twitter and Google+ sites.
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