The Wine Travel Awards nominee can be a subject / object from anywhere in the world that meets the category profile. Nomination takes place in six nominations, each of which has its own set of categories. You can choose one or several nominations at once and any of the categories listed below – and apply for self-nomination or nominate other companies or personalities, having agreed with them in advance.

In case of choosing several nominations, the most loyal conditions are provided by our financial policy (see clause 5).

Nomination: 1. The visiting card of the country

Destinations, wineries, national brands, establishments with a wine program: hotels, local food restaurants, bars, museums of wines and specialties, tasting rooms

Category: Must visit

Category profile: Individual objects or destinations located on tourist routes, and which are the enogastronomic attractions of the region can be nominated for this category. Drinks and food presented by the nominee have a high level of quality confirmed by reputable competitions and experts. And the object itself has an active marketing policy and is visited by many domestic and foreign tourists.

Category: Brand – the visiting card of the country

Category profile: Brands (beverages and food) produced in the country of origin from 100% local raw materials can be nominated for this category. Brands are distinguished by a high level of quality confirmed by reputable competitions and experts, active marketing strategy, national and international distribution, presentable design that attracts tourists and enables the brand to act as a souvenir.

Category: Progressive Approach (sustainable development, organic methods, and resource-saving technologies)

Category profile: Entities that have actual evidence of compliance with international principles of sustainable development, environmental friendliness and other features of progressive approaches can be nominated for this category.

Category: Region of the Year

Category profile: Programs and strategies of consortia for the protection of wines and territories, roads of wine and local products, wine offices of different countries – any organizations or individual objects aiming at the development of tourism in their region, attracting tourist flows to specific territories and conducting active marketing can be nominated for this category.

Category: Art & History Object

Category profile: Facilities that have a status of an art object can be nominated for this category, or facilities that can confirm the fact that their architecture belongs to a sample of art or history (facility with its own history, reviving indigenous varieties and specialties, traditional technologies), or they have an original design, or an appropriate format of activity – a cultural and art center, a gallery, etc.

Nomination: 2. Ambassador

Ambassadors: persons representing wines, regions, enogastronomic routes, brands; associations, consortia, national wine bureaus, tourist offices, and tour operators

Category: Ambassador of the Year

Category profile: Entities who have the status of an ambassador of wine / a region / a road of wine and taste or who may confirm the fact of belonging to the enogastronomic association whose interests they represent can be nominated for this category. As well as those who have more than one year of experience as a promoter of a wine region, an association, a brand or certain types of wines. This activity can be confirmed both by an official source and by publications in the media, recommendations of officials, etc.

Category: Creative Strategy

Category profile: Entities who have the status of an ambassador of wine / a region / a road of wine and taste can be nominated for this category or who may confirm the fact of belonging to the enogastronomic association whose interests they represent, and whose activities are characterized by a special creative approach, creative solutions, original views.

Nomination: 3. Wine & Food Influencer

Journalists, professional media, bloggers, photographers, and videographers

Category: Author of the Year

Category profile: Authors of literary works (a guidebook, a reference book, etc.) or a series of publications in any mass media (including non-periodicals) on enogastronomic topics can be nominated for this category. Their publications should have been published during the year before the current year of the award and had outstanding publicity and promoted relevant destinations, locations, wine, and other products of the region in terms of tourist attractiveness.

Category: Expert Opinion

Category profile: Authors whose publications demonstrate in-depth knowledge in the field of enogastronomy and / or the peculiarities of a region can be nominated for this category. Publications should have an outstanding publicity and promote a competent opinion and reliable information about destinations, locations, wines, and other products of a region in terms of tourist attractiveness.

Category: The Brightest Journey

Category profile: Authors whose creative work includes a report (a video, an article) from an enogastronomic tour or a report from a trip to an interesting region, a specific object of the wine road, etc. can be nominated for this category.

Nomination: 4. Education in enotourism

Wine museums, wine institutes, tasting rooms, including those located on the premises of the wineries, academies of enogastronomy, wine schools participating in tourist projects, organizers of tours to exhibitions, etc.

Category: Unique Program (educational or of enogastronomic tours)

Category profile: Entities with original educational or excursion programs, special tastings and tours can be nominated for this category.

Category: Cultural Mission

Category profile: The category aims to identify educational institutions and programs with a special cultural mission (revival of traditions, promotion of advanced technologies, etc.).

Nomination: 5. Wine guide

Guides, guides-representors of wine regions, tour operators, etc.

Category: Top Guide 

Category profile: Entities with three years of professional experience, outstanding professional achievements, expertise in the field of enogastronomy can be nominated for this category. Besides, socially significant excursion programs and tours implemented during the year before the current year of the award (2020-November 2021) can be nominated as well.

Category: Travel Operator of the Year

Category profile: Guides or travel companies that have independently developed enogastronomic tours along a unique route in their portfolio can be nominated for this category. The preference will be given to tours that attract the attention of external and domestic tourists to the region, where the “Unique Route” is laid, and promote unique people, places, varieties, and products.

Nomination: 6. Enogastronomic events

Festivals, Wine Days and Local Products Days, exhibitions, promotion programs 

Category: Event of the Year

Category profile: The category aims to identify important events (Days of wines, local products, festivals, gastronomic summits, online symposia), which took place during the year before the current year of the award (2020-November 2021). Preference is given to special events that are relevant to the topic and are distinguished by the original format and exposition, the audience.

Category: Magnet of the Region

Category profile: The category helps to support the organizers of professional events (enogastronomic festivals, exhibitions, tastings, and auctions) aimed at promoting local and international producers of craft drinks and local specialties. Preference is given to attractive events that draw the attention of tourist communities to wines, spirits, beer, and other products of the region where the event is held.

The members of the panel of judges are 12 experts from around the world in the field of enogastronomy and tourism, marketing and journalism, wine business and education.

Robert Joseph, a British wine expert, consultant, producer, an editorial consultant for Meininger’s Wine Business International.

Dr. Ricardo Nunez, Head of the international group of companies Vinos de La Luz, which unites wineries in Spain, Italy, Argentina and the United States.

Felicity Carter, Executive Editor at Pix, was previously Editor-in-Chief of Meininger’s Wine Business International, the world’s only global wine business magazine.

Fiona Morrison, MW, Managing Director of Thienpont Wine, an international wine merchant and négociant and with her husband, Jacques Thienpont, runs their three Bordeaux estates, Le Pin in Pomerol, L’IF in Saint Emilion and L’Hêtre in Castillon.

Per Karlsson, a co-founder and wine writer of BKWine Magazine, one of the world’s leading wine tour operators, a co-author of eleven wine books, an internationally awarded, professional wine and travel photographer.

Philippe Massol, General Director of the unique and pioneering project – La Cité du Vin in Bordeaux.

Olga Bussinello, a private entrepreneur, brand consultant, legal consultant for food and wine companies.

Einat Klein, a journalist, photographer, historian, professional traveller, guide to the Middle East and Africa, wine expert and wine producer (Israel).

Gergely Szolnoki, Professor of Market Research at Geisenheim University (Germany) and honorary professor of Wine and Beverage Management & Marketing at the University of West Attica (Athens/Greece).

Saverio Savio, a leader of projects funded by the European Union and aimed at the development of integration processes in the region.

Stéphane Badet, a lecturer at ISVV and EPL Bordeaux, specializes in wine economy, industry management, business, marketing and tourism.

Maximilian Tafel, an enologist by profession, studied International Wine Business at Geisenheim University and the University of Giessen.

Nominations of the Wine Travel Awards are some sort of club cards of the WTA global wine tourism community.

• The marketing campaign on online and offline resources of the WTA spans 1.5 years, followed by another half a year of distributing the final catalog, the WTA Guide. By agreeing to the Early Bird package, you can enjoy all nominee benefits.
• Joining the WTA international professional community offers numerous advantages, including making valuable business contacts, expanding opportunities to attract tourist and client flows to your facilities and businesses, and learning from the experience of other participants.
• Participation in WTA tastings at exhibitions and special events throughout the year is available under favorable conditions exclusively to WTA members.

Participation in the WTA community includes:

• Posting information on the nominee’s personal page at www.winetravelawards.com;
• Posting information about the nominee during the year on the nomination start pages www.winetravelawards.com;
• Placement of information about the nominee on www.drinks.ua (the website has two versions and a global reach with the next top five countries of visitors except Ukraine: US, Germany, GB, China, Russia);
• Information about the nominee in the social media of Drinks+ Media Group, the Wine Travel Awards, and information partners of the award;
• News support for the nominee in the WTA social media until the end of voting on the site;
• Coverage in the WTA newsletters;
• Coverage in the printed and electronic versions of the Wine Travel Awards Guide – one profile page for each category;
• The possibility of using the WTA visual materials in their marketing strategy (pursuant to the agreement for the right to use such materials, entered into with the right holder-WTA);
• The opportunity to take part in all activities – presentations, tastings, round tables, etc. on special terms as a member of the WTA community;
  
• The opportunity to become one of the winners of the Wine Travel Awards.

One company / person can apply for several categories, but no more than three. 

You must fill out a separate application for each nominee. 

Any company / person can act as an Applicant – submit and pay for an application by nominating both their own company and a third party / company (Nominee), having previously agreed and confirmed the consent of the nominee to the organizers.

The cost of the nomination package will be calculated as follows: price for the first category – 456 euros, the second – 342 euros, the third – 228 euros.

If you plan to submit applications for four categories (or for four nominees) or more, please contact the organizers to clarify the terms directly: contact@winetravelawards.com

Applications for the WTA 2021-2022 are accepted until February 28, 2022.

Choose the appropriate Nomination and fill out the Registration Form – and we will be glad to welcome you to the WTA community!

The Wine Travel Awards voting system is an annual review of the opinions and experiences of international enogastronomic tourism experts and people who are simply passionate about this topic. This system is offered by the international Drinks+ Media Group which has almost 30 years of experience in the field. At the same time, it is important that, unlike many well-deserved awards operating in the world, the Wine Travel Awards is not a rating in the direct sense of the word. Every nominee who has declared their desire to interact with the WTA community is important to us. And our task is not just to identify the best, but to talk about everyone who contributes to the progress in this area.

The awards’ winners are determined in two stages. In January 2023, an advertising campaign for the awards will start, aimed at attracting wine lovers of the world and professionals to vote, and in February, a voting function will open for users of the website winеtravelawards.com. According to the voting results, summed up at the end of March 2023, five nominees of each category, that reached the final, are considered by the WTA Jury Committee, consisting of 12 reputable professionals in such industries as winemaking, food tourism, marketing, journalism. The selection takes place within a 10-point system according to the unified Wine Travel Awards protocols.

Everyone who is passionate about the topic of wine and gastronomic tourism has the right to vote – both professionals and amateurs from any country in the world.

It’s simple! You need to select a category in one of six nominations, familiarize yourself with the profiles of the nominees presented in this category and click the Vote button on the page of the nominee you like.

• Until the announcement of the Winners of the voting and the Award Winners, the data on voting and the work of the jury is strictly confidential.
• It is allowed to vote simultaneously for several candidates in different nominations – one vote for each from one device.
• Jury members are not allowed to vote for companies they own or have a financial interest in and are asked to confirm this fact for each of the nominations.

The WTA, its subcontractors, subsidiaries and / or agencies cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem with the internet connectivity or line, system, server, provider or otherwise which may result in any vote being lost or not properly registered or recorded.