Developed Armenian wine map guides tourists through world’s oldest wine region

In 2019 MSM collaborated with the International Center for Agribusiness Research and Education (ICARE) in a NUFFIC Tailor-Made-Training in Armenia to strengthen ICARE’s knowledge on eco-tourism. As part of the training a wine map was developed to strengthen Armenian tourism.

Armenia is one of the oldest wine producing regions in the world. The first wine that was produced goes back more than 6100 years ago and started in a cave hidden in the Arpa Canyon, near Areni. Since these ancient days Armenia has been famous for its wine-making traditions which are still kept in practice to this day. In the wine map that was developed through the collaboration of MSM and ICARE, 40 wine houses have been registered and have been mapped out for tourists. Due to the countries’ unique terroir, a variety of wines are produced: tannic and full-bodied, light and easy to drink, white, rosé, red and sparkling. There is something for every wine enthusiast and through this specially developed map, tourists can easily find places to taste wine, accommodation and wine related activities in the area.

The wine map was presented in 2019 and developed for 2020, however just as the rest of the world Armenia was hit by the Covid-19 virus and lockdowns which delayed the roll-out of the specially made program. Among others the wine festivals, Yerevan Wine Days, Areni Wine Festival and Artsakh Wine Festival that were supposed to be organized in 2020 were delayed due to the pandemic and will now be held at a later stage. Due to the pandemic also the printing of the wine map had to be postponed, however the 2020 map that was developed is still accurate as many of the activities in the wine map will still take place. As the world is slowly unlocking from the virus there are good hopes that tourism will be restored. With this in mind a new map for the next wine season will he developed to continue the existence of the wine map and strengthen (wine) tourism in Armenia.

Eco-tourism training
The wine map was developed as part of a broader training with the aim of building ICARE’s knowledge capacity on eco-tourism. As part of building the organizations knowledge capacity several MSM experts traveled to Jeravan, Armenia in 2019. Among others MSM’s Senior Lecturer of Marketing and Strategy, Oliver Olson and Dr. Jakomijn van Wijk, Associate Professor Sustainable Business taught ICARE’s staff on branding and research methods in agritourism. These training sessions were the basis for the development of an executive training that ICARE can launch on the Armenian tour operator market. This wine map also gives ICARE the possibility to promote itself as a training and research actor.  

Tailor-Made Training of the Orange Knowledge Programme
This project is part of the Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP) which is funded by the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by Nuffic. For more information click here.

Source images: Armenian Wine Map 2020 developed by EVN Wine Academy

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