Long Island: Wine Tourism
I stopped in at a reception at the Time Warner Center a few days ago for journalists covering the 37th annual Pow Wow of the Travel Industry Association of America. I realize the initial reaction of any sane reader to that sentence should be to turn the page. It sounds like a trade journal item rather than a compelling subject for a wine columnist in a local newspaper, but let me assure you that what happened is relevant to life on the east end of Long Island.
The Travel Industry Association is a trade group that promotes travel in and to the United States, and thousands of travel professionals gathered for what is essentially an international marketplace. American travel organizations meet with international and some domestic buyers and put together about $3 billion in business, consisting of tours under a program called Visit USA.
At the reception, Long Island wines were poured. A casual choice by a caterer? Definitely not. This was as well planned as a space shot. The 400 or so guests were travel and tourism writers from 80 countries, and the theme was “Tastes of New York,” featuring Long Island wines paired with New York State cheeses. The goal was to create interest in New York State and the Long Island wine region as a travel destination among this influential group of journalists.
Before the event, Steven Bate, Executive Director of the Long Island Wine Council, said, “For a couple of hours…we will have exclusive access to top travel media representatives from 80 countries. We fully intend to use this access to give our region the stature it deserves as an important wine tourism destination on New York City’s doorstep.” This was only the latest of several steps taken recently to promote Long Island wine tourism. Earlier this spring, Dr. Lalia Rach, dean of the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality at New York University, spoke to members of the wine council about trends in tourism, what various generations look for, how they spend to satisfy those travel appetites, and specifically how the Long Island wine industry can tap into this lucrative market.
A number of private companies already organize everything from vineyard tours to weddings to wine classes. On the North Fork, the Long Island Wine Country Bed & Breakfast Group is sponsoring a “Wine Camp.” Over a four-day period campers will be shown the ins and outs of vineyard practices, winemaking and wine appreciation. Camps are scheduled for May 17 to 20 and July 26 to 29. The immediate purpose, at least from the organizers’ view, is to fill the rooms at the B&Bs, but the long-term effect will be to advance the idea of wine tourism on Long Island.
Wine production is big business on Long Island, and wine tourism, a category of “agri- tourism” is an important part of it. According to the wine council, the industry produces $65 million in gross sales and employs 4,000 people. In 2000, the most recent year for which I could find statistics, 535,000 wine tourists visited Long Island.
In October of last year, state lawmakers created, and Governor Pataki signed, legislation designating the “Long Island Wine Region,” with the aim of boosting the agricultural and tourist economies of the area. The Wine Region incorporates previously designated wine trails, which is why you see those official green and white signs along the roads indicating winery locations.
Wineries on Long Island sell a good portion of their wines from the tasting rooms. Marketing people at the wineries tell me it runs at least 50 percent on average, with some smaller producers selling 70 percent or more directly to the consumer. So, from an industry view, it makes sense to encourage visitors.
Does this mean that loads of people—make that additional loads of people—will be crowding our villages and roads? I don’t think so. To begin, only three of the 34 vineyards belonging to the Long Island Wine Council are sited on the South Fork. The critical mass of wineries is on the North Fork, and the locations, with only a few exceptions, strung out along the main road running from Riverhead to Greenport, are ideal for visitors. As a result of serving Long Island wines at that reception in New York, more of these visitors may be coming from faraway places.
