Stories of the nominees

The Wine Tourism School of Catalonia

Spain

The Wine Tourism School of Catalonia is an initiative of the City Council of Vilafranca del Penedès and the Catalan wine tourism business sector to create an industry-integrated vocational training center that will offer initial, vocational and continuing education in wine tourism.

Since 2016, almost 5,000 students have studied at the Wine Tourism School of Catalonia. These are mainly residents of Catalonia, but every year students come to the School from the rest of Spain, as well as from other countries (ranging in age from 18 to 50). These can be people who already work in the wine industry, as well as those who are just beginning to be interested in the wine sphere. This internationalization has led to create a 100% English speaking line for the Higher Technician’s Degree.

The school offers Higher Technician’s Degree in Tourism, specialized in Wine Tourism, the only one within the Bologna Plan in the EU. The course has 2,000 hours, including 1,000 hours of paid internships in companies, where students learn by working on a paid basis. The students’ job placement rate is 100%.

Enrollment for the Sommelier Professional 2024/2025 course is currently open. The training will last from January 15, 2024 until July 2025. In-person classes will be held on Mondays from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. Registration deadline is December 15, 2023.

The instructors are industry professionals, each providing education in their respective areas of expertise:

  • Product Creation
  • International Markets
  • Wine Tourism Marketing
  • Sommelier
  • Group Guiding
  • Touristic and Wine Tourism Sales and Service
  • Professional Communication
  • Social Media related to the sector
  • Wine English

Part of the School’s program includes visits to wineries, tourism promotion companies, heritage and cultural centers.

The Wine Tourism School of Catalonia offers a specialized Job Placement service for students and alumni, where companies in the sector send job offers.

The school is located just near the Barcelona train and bus stations. It is surrounded by over 300 wineries. It will take you 30 minutes to drive to Barcelona.