The objective of these Funds is to support the creation and/or strengthening of the services (activities and facilities) offered by Tourist Wineries to satisfy the needs of wine tourists, providing the destination with a greater degree of attraction, increasing the length of stay and tourist spending in the territory. Among the most essential services are: accommodation, food, entertainment, security and comfort in tourist facilities, among others. In addition, it seeks to generate networks of tourism entrepreneurs and provide tools to make them sustainable, profitable and competitive.
The ceremony was headed by the Minister of Tourism, Tabaré Viera, and the National Director of Tourism, Roque Baudean, in addition to the presence of the Director of Tourism of the Municipality of Canelones, Horacio Yanes and the Head of Wine Tourism of the National Institute of Viticulture , Paula Vila.
Minister Viera highlighted “the singular success and that this is a path forward, which stimulates and supports the development of such an important sector of tourism. Granting these prizes encourages ideas to be submitted to proposals and projects, and those that are already working to improve their offer.” On the other hand, the leader highlighted the growth of the sector in our country, such as the celebration of the World Wine Tourism Congress, to be held in March of next year in Uruguay.
With a total of 73 proposals at the time of closing of applications, 11 were preselected and from these resulted the four projects to which the funds will be awarded.
It should be noted that the greatest success of this call is having added 5 new wineries to the Registry of Tour Operators and 2 that renewed their registration with the Ministry.
In addition, the Vineyards that receive visitors were registered as Tour Operators in the "Rural Establishments" category.
The wineries awarded the Competitive Fund for the Development of Wine Tourism will also receive comprehensive support in:
Technical support It involves the support of specialized tutoring by MINTUR technicians. As a result of this support, a roadmap will be prepared that will serve to monitor the project.
Non-refundable financial contribution that aims to support the Tourist Wineries, with a non-refundable contribution each of up to $U 400,000 (four hundred thousand Uruguayan pesos).
The four wineries selected were:
- Colorado Chico Winery (Canelones), which was selected for its new business unit and its approach to wine tourism in terms of development.
- Chiapella Winery (Canelones) that was selected for its wine tourism proposal that represents a contribution to the tourist offer with emphasis on territorial articulation.
- Marichal Winery (Canelones), which was selected for introducing quality improvements in the services and activities offered as well as a readjustment of its tourist facilities.
- Hacienda Del Sacramento (Colonia), which was selected for its proposal to improve services and tourist facilities in the external environment, emphasizing the associative work with the Colonia Wineries.