Over the last few years, the wine tourism industry has grown rapidly, with visitors from all over the world flocking to various wine regions to explore vineyards, taste new wines, and learn about the winemaking process. South Africa is no exception, and Vinpro has launched a new wine tourism research pilot programme in collaboration with the Cape Winelands District Municipality to assist wineries in using technology to improve their direct-to-consumer (DTC) business.
The pilot programme, which began in March 2023 with an initial 16 wineries, is a continuation of Vinpro and the SA Wine Routes Forum’s (SAWRF) strategic objectives to conduct research focused on industry needs and knowledge gaps. Last year, the wine routes, Vinpro, and Vintelligence collaborated to release the SA Wine Tourism Visitor Research Report 2022. This year, the goal is to use technology intelligently.
“We are extremely excited to have launched this amazing pilot programme, and we want cellars to get involved right away,” says Marisah Nieuwoudt, Vinpro’s wine tourism manager. “The new pilot programme was launched in collaboration with Flow Networks, a location analytics, proximity marketing, and guest Wi-Fi specialist.” This year, we plan to use technology to count visitors and track where they come from in order to better understand the size and composition of the overall market. “We want to assist our wineries in staying connected to wine tourists in between visits, allowing consumer engagement in the DTC wine space.”
Flow Networks, a reputable service provider licenced to use Purple and used by some of the world’s largest brands, will work with the pilot programme companies to develop their marketing strategy to assist with cross-channel sales, manage their online reputation, build loyalty and rewards programmes, or send offers via e-mail. Presence Analytics is a software module that, using a built-in location sensor, counts the number of mobile devices (users) within range of a producer’s or cellar’s Wi-Fi router. Visitors do not need to be connected to the farm’s Wi-Fi to be counted. Purple also tracks the amount of time spent in the venue as well as the frequency with which it is visited. Wi-Fi Analytics collects data from visitors who connect to a guest Wi-Fi service. When a guest connects, a CRM record is created for them, which is updated each time they return.
Purple is installed on top of the existing Wi-Fi infrastructure and takes less than an hour to set up. The system can be managed through an online portal that wineries can access. When the winery goes live, Purple immediately begins building a database through its user-friendly, custom-branded Wi-Fi landing pages. The collected visitor data will be displayed on an online dashboard. Visitors’ numbers, country of origin, dwell time, gender, and age will be shared with the respective wine route. This means that the wine route manager will be able to see cross-pollination (when a wine tourist visits more than one winery) to help inform marketing and development plans. Vinpro will have access to the same information on a national scale. All processes adhere to POPIA regulations in the United States and GDPR regulations in Europe.
“As a region, we believe that wine tourism is about more than just enjoying exquisite wines and breath taking landscapes; it is also about harnessing the power of data and intelligence to support the growth of wineries and enhance our visitors’ experiences,” says Melody Botha, CEO of Breedekloof Wine Valley. “That is why we are honoured to participate in the wine tourism research pilot programme.” We hope that by participating in this programme, we will be able to gain valuable insights that will help our wineries make strategic decisions, allowing them to optimise their DTC business operations, improve customer engagement, and create memorable experiences for visitors. We understand the value of data-driven approaches.
