“Experiences” has been the buzzword in tourism for the past 10 years, and the New York State wine industry has recognized the importance of experiential tourism for creating brand loyalty and driving wine sales at its wineries. While a number of wineries had been moving toward offering more enhanced wine tasting experiences, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the tasting room experience of all NYS wineries being reshaped by required health and safety regulations. An unexpected result of compliance has been a more elevated tasting experience with seated tastings in un-crowded tasting rooms, and curated wine flights with accompanying food. For a number of wineries, this elevated tasting room experience has resulted in higher per customer wine sales and overall satisfaction.
This workshop is designed to help attendees learn key facets to consider when creating premium experiences at their wineries, so they can further develop premium tasting room offerings, and incorporate them into their post-COVID operations. Attendees will learn to identify the Who, What, When, Where and How of effective premium experiences. Real examples will be used that demonstrate how premium experiences have created measurable returns on investment in the Finger Lakes region. Attendees will receive a tool to start creating their own premium experiences, or to evaluate the effectiveness of existing programs.
This is a Basic Webinar: Free to NYWGF Winery Members, and accessible to all other NYS wineries for $50. Not a member yet? Join Now!
About the Presenter:
Dr. Laura Winter Falk is co-owner of Experience! The Finger Lakes, recognized as one of the top wine tour companies in the country. Founded in 2007, Laura and her husband and co-owner, Alan, understood the potential of elevated wine tourism in the region when the started their first experiential wine tours on Cayuga Lake. Thirteen years later they have tours with elevated tasting programs established on all three wine lakes, with over 35 mutually-vetted top winery and craft producers in the Finger Lakes region. Her background as a researcher, educator, certified sommelier, and small business owner gives Laura a unique perspective on the Finger Lakes wine business. She uses a data-driven approach to evaluating experiences, through years of collecting customer evaluation and purchasing data on Experience! The Finger Lakes tours. By using a combination of comparative analysis and the evaluation of customer data, Laura has been able to work side-by-side with wineries throughout the region to create premium experiences that have drawn tens of thousands of visitors to the Finger Lakes region.
