Moldova hosts third Global Conference on Wine Tourism

Chisinau, 6 September /MOLDPRES/ - The third Global Conference on Wine Tourism today was inaugurated at the Mimi Castle from the Bulboaca settlement, eastern Anenii Noi district. The event brings together more than 200 guests from about 60 countries. The participants will have possibility to know and “taste” from the wine offer of Moldova, by visiting a string of representative wineries and tourist complexes.     
During two days of the event, decision-makers will organize a string of actions to promote the domestic wine tourism and present the tourist offer of Moldova. The actions will include guided tours and tastings of wines, gastronomic and cultural shows, craftsmanship exhibitions. Each event of the conference will be held in different wine locations, in order to provide guests with more authentic experiences, which will help them make an impression about Moldova’s tourist potential.  
In the opening of the global forum, Prime Minister Pavel Filip said that the Moldovan wines represented a visiting card of the country.
Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization Jaime Cabal said that Moldova should avail itself of the advantages offered by the wine branch, among which the creation of jobs, generating important income sources, development of the rural regions. The official emphasized that, to do this, the state and the private sector must get involved in this to the equal extent.  
The conference is held under the aegis of the UN World Tourism Organization, in partnership with Moldova’s government.  
According to a press release, the carrying out of the event in Moldova shows an official recognition of the fact that the country is an important wine destination on the world’s tourism map. Statistic data places Moldova among the 20 biggest producers of wine, with an annual production of 1.8 million hectoliters, according to the International Organization of Vine and Wine. With an area of vineyards of four per cent of the country’s territory or seven per cent of its farmlands, Moldova has the highest density of vineyards in the world and ranks sixth in Europe according to the area of vine plantations.     
In 2017, Moldova recorded a 50-per cent increase in the number of foreign tourists against 2015. Also last year, rural boarding houses registered thrice as many visitors against two years ago; the number of wineries providing tourist services has doubled and the number of visitors of wine tourist destinations increased by 20 per cent.  
(Reporter N. Sandu, editor M. Jantovan)