Wine tourism is particularly popular with the British at home and abroad.
Wine tourism is key in promoting Greek wine in the United Kingdom. Greek wineries can take advantage of the Mediterranean country’s popularity as a tourist destination for the British by combining the promotion of their products with a visit to the region in which they are located.
In 2023, the United Kingdom was Greece’s second most important country of origin for tourist arrivals, with 4.59 million travellers. Given the extremely high number of British tourists who visit Greece on an annual basis, it is important to connect Greek wine with the wider tourist and cultural products that our country offers through wine tourism.
After all, wine tourism is particularly popular with the British, both abroad and within the country. Many British wineries have listings in the special “vineyards” category of the Airbnb platform.
Many hotels offer wine tasting as part of the accommodation package
It should be noted that the popularity of wine-tasting events in the UK is one of the main avenues through which consumers are introduced to new wines. Many hotels and leisure facilities offer wine tasting as part of their accommodation package, while UK vineyards regularly hold wine-tasting events throughout the calendar year.
According to the research, the implementation of Greek wine-tasting events in the United Kingdom, which is currently carried out mainly within the framework of the co-funded Program for the Promotion of Wine in Third Countries of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, could contribute to the recognition of Greek natives varieties and Greek wine in general, provided that they are combined with additional targeted actions, such as financing visits of buyers and influencers to Greek wineries.
Taking into account the structure of Greek wine production – small crops and produced quantities, relatively high average product price – as well as the characteristics of the British market, the opportunities for Greek wine are mainly presented to specialised wine importers and retailers (independent online or physical retail stores wine sales, wine cellars, etc.) as well as in the less price-sensitive sectors of catering and hospitality and high-end stores.
At the same time, a more representative presence of Greek wine in large retail chains, provided that it manages to resist the price pressures of treating it as a mass product, will contribute decisively to the recognition and consolidation of Greece as a modern wine-producing country in the perception of the British consumer.
The positioning of Greek wine in the UK market based on highlighting its uniqueness – the unusual origin, the indigenous varieties, the history of the wine region, and the way of vinification – is favoured by the continuing trend of the British consumer public to discover new, indigenous varieties and can lead to capturing an increasing share of the UK niche wine market.
The UK market operates with high professional standards and requires Greek producers to be particularly consistent and reliable in terms of the quality and characteristics of the exported product and also in terms of cooperation with domestic importers in general.
Furthermore, given that the British wine market is highly competitive, maintaining and further developing Greece’s share will require consistent and continuous promotion of Greek wine using specialised and modern marketing techniques.
Electronic media are particularly interesting promotion tools for Greek wine, as they can provide all the information regarding the product’s character and uniqueness.
The presence of Greek products
Greek wine has a limited presence in large retail chains despite the fact that they are the main distribution channel in the UK market.
In particular, in most chains, the selection of Greek wines is extremely limited; on the other hand, it is included in the category “other varieties” or “wine from the rest of the world” (only in the food-drink department of Marks & Spencer and in the Morrisson’s chain is Greece distinguished as country of origin).
However, Greek wine is also gaining ground in retail chains. The Aldi chain has introduced and expanded its range of Greek wines, which, according to the chain’s figures, resonated with the British consumer public.
Private-label Greek wine is also available in the British market from British companies in the sector (such as The Wine Society, etc.). The presence of “traditional” Greek wines, such as Mavrodafni and Retsina, in retail food chains is noteworthy.
However, a wide selection of wines from Greek vineyards (more than 200 wineries) is available in the UK market from independent importers and retailers, several of them of Greek origin, through mainly online sales outlets.
Also, Greek wine can now be found in some luxury stores (Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason), which have two to three Greek labels.
The British prefer white wine
White wine consumption ranks first in British preferences, while indigenous varietals and sparkling wine are growing in popularity. The majority of UK wine drinkers are over 50, while demand is declining among younger generations.
About 89% of wine by value is sold in the retail market, and the remaining 11% in the hospitality industry.
Hypermarkets and supermarkets are the two largest distributors of wine in the UK, and e-commerce is an important and fast-growing distribution channel, accounting for 14.3% of all wine sales in the country.
Stathi Kousouni is a columnist for Travel. Translated by Paul Antonopoulos.
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