Welcome To Wine Country

Newcastle Herald

Thursday November 6, 2008

Chris Watson

AROUND 150 wineries, approaching 100 restaurants, some

200 accommodation venues representing more than 3000

beds, world-class concerts, great golf courses and a vast

range of other activities: the Hunter Valleys wine country

is a magnet for visitors from the area, the state, the nation

and the world.

Visit the Hunter and its wineries and not only do you get

to taste superb wines, you can go hot-air ballooning, take

horse-drawn carriage rides, go horse riding or fl y in planes

or helicopters, visit historical sites and antique shops, shop,

play golf or cycle, go on bush walks, visit galleries, markets,

Hunter Valley Zoo, check out the night life, take a spa treatment,

meader the food trails and see cheese and chocolate

factories, or rock on at world-class concerts.

After a tough 2007, produced by a surplus of wine and

the June fl oods that saw cellar door sales down, which

fl owed on to the accommodation, restaurant and cafe sector,

its now all boom and no gloom in the valley.

We have weathered the storm, Hunter Valley Wine

Country Tourisms marketing manager, Hiedi Duckworth,

says. We are now in an enviable position and this is clearly

refl ected in a BA Market Surveys report comparing results

from last year to this year for the six months January to

June period. There is a direct correlation between cellar

door sales and other attractions in the region and they are

all showing fantastic results.

Ms Duckworth said 2.7 million visits to the Hunter last

year was pleasing, but the market was still volatile.

A comparison of accommodation occupancy for the fi rst

six months of 2007 to the same period in 2008 showed a

marked increase of 15.4 per cent.

Ms Duckworth said reports showed the bulk of visitors

came from Sydney to stay in the Pokolbin area. Eighty per

cent come from Sydney, followed by intra-state, interstate

and overseas, Ms Duckworth said. We are fi nding they are

coming back to the cellar doors because they want to have

the whole experience, the talk with the wine experts and

they want to taste before they buy and that is something

you cant get at other places.

Escaping the city and getting out into the country

is very appealing. They come to the day spas, the golf

courses, to taste the produce, the cheeses and olives and

stay at the fi ve-star accommodation. They do want the

whole experience that we have to offer.

And the Hunter is chasing new sources for its tourists,

with China fi rmly in the sights of Hunter Tourisms chief

executive Sheridan Ferrier, who believes the region would

reap the rewards from tapping into such a huge market.

China and India are well worth chasing because they

are such key markets for growth, Ms Ferrier says. China accounts

for only four per cent of the visits to the region, one

of the lowest of any country, and Ms Ferrier believes that

trend can change. The majority of overseas visitors come

from the UK (22 per cent), New Zealand (14 per cent), the

U.S. (13 per cent), Germany (seven per cent), and Canada

(six per cent).

Ms Ferrier believes that once visitors spend time in the

region they will want to keep coming back because there

is so much on offer.

People love the indulgence of the great wine, cheeses,

olives and restaurants, she says. They take horse-carriage

rides or go on bicycles, there are so many ways to enjoy

the experience.

So, welcome all to Hunter Valley wine country.

Come one, come all, to the myriad of attractions

that make up Hunter Valley wine country.

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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