Established in 1999, the international GWC is the only network in the world to connect wine regions in “old” Europe with the “new” world. GWC aims to promote commercial, tourist and educational exchanges between its twelve member cities: Adelaide | South Australia, Bilbao | Rioja (Spain), Bordeaux (France), Cape Town | Cape Winelands (South Africa), Hawke’s Bay (New Zealand), Lausanne (Switzerland), Mainz | Rheinhessen (Germany), Mendoza (Argentina), Porto (Portugal), San Francisco | Napa Valley (USA), Valparaiso | Casablanca Valley (Chile) and Verona (Italy). The GWC network aims to provide memorable wine experiences for visitors and helps cities and their wineries promote their extraordinary culture, heritage and region. Since 2018, the City of Lausanne has represented the entire Swiss wine-growing region in this prestigious network.
“Promoting wine tourism is a unique opportunity for the wine sector to showcase the diversity of Swiss wines and present their fascinating landscapes and rich history to the general public. It’s also an opportunity for this wealth to reach further than wine lovers. Lausanne’s Great Wine Capitals membership has been a major milestone for the development of Swiss wine tourism”, Nicolas Joss, Director of Swiss Wine Promotion.
From 22 to 26 October, delegates from the twelve countries explored Swiss vineyards through “technical tours” organised in the country’s wine-growing regions. These visits highlighted the winegrowers’ ancestral know-how, diversity of the terroir, main grape varieties, research and development of the wine sector, as well as wine tourism offers and landscape heritage. “The GWC network’s General Assembly in Lausanne has helped strengthen the standing of wine tourism in the Vaud capital and Swiss wine-growing region. The future of wine tourism is encouraging, both nationally and worldwide. Lausanne is delighted to be able to offer these experiences to curious visitors and lovers of Swiss vintages”, Steeve Pasche, Director of Lausanne Tourisme and President of the GWC 2023 General Assembly
The GWC General Assembly was punctuated by the 6th edition of the Swiss Wine Tourism Meetings, with a conference day on the theme “Wine tourism in Switzerland: from tradition to innovation” with the participation of Suisse Tourisme, Presence Switzerland, the Brotherhood of Winegrowers, Agroscope and other partners. The day was a unique opportunity to meet stakeholders from around the world, as well as broadening approaches and promoting innovation and the standing of Swiss wine tourism in the wider world.
Learn more about Lausanne Great Wine Capital