Hunter vigneron says $50m support package neglects domestic tourism

Hunter Valley vigneron Andrew Margan has expressed concern that the $50million government support package will not benefit the region as there is too much emphasis on export rather than domestic tourism.

According to Wine Australia, the $50million Export and Regional Wine Support Package (ERWSP), which was announced in the 2017/18 federal budget, will run over four years, focused on wine promotion internationally and domestically that "will benefit regional wine producers and assist export-focused businesses to continue to grow".

However, of that $50million, more than $30millon of that money will be spent on promoting Australian wine in China and the United States, $3million on creating 'China-ready' businesses, and only $10million will be spent boosting growth in domestic wine regions.

Of that $10million, a total of $5million will be allocated to the states, and the other $5million will be for a range of stakeholders to apply for funding to grow wine tourism.

It is understood NSW will only receive $1million of the money allocated to the states.

Winemaker Andrew Margan told the ABC that because the Hunter Valley region does not export large amounts of wine, the region will see virtually zero benefit come out of the ERWSP.

Margan believes that many vineyards in regional areas rely heavily on domestic tourism and more money should be dedicated in that area.

"The potential for us is the domestic market — people driving to our cellar doors in the Hunter Valley out of Sydney," said Margan.

"[The funding injection] may sound great, but the reality of those export markets, and export markets in general, is the people who are going to be losing the [Wine Equalisation Tax] rebate are not going to be the ones who are going to get any advantage out of the Chinese and US markets.

"You look at the investment the other states are doing in their wine tourism industries, and then you look at what happens in New South Wales; we're so far behind it's almost embarrassing."

Margan notes that Wine Australia rejected The Hunter Valley Wine Tourism Association's pitch for funding of approximately $250,000 to undertake a significant ‘Australian first’ study looking at the value of wine tourism in Australia.

"It's very much the basis for understanding what wine tourism is worth to the country, and you would think that out of $50million, that would be one of the first things that the industry would be valuing and therefore helping to fund,” he said.

In response to why the Hunter Valley Wine Tourism Association's proposal was rejected, CEO of Wine Australia, Andreas Clark said that the proposal caused uncertainty among "regional associations and the other big national bodies" and suggested the proposal was redone.

"There were some good ideas in it, but it was an expensive proposal, and we wanted to ensure if it was going to warrant the significant amount of investment, and that it had broad support across other parts of the sector as well,” Clark told the ABC.

"There's some support across other regions, but we want to have a clear direction from the peak national body who we consult with to ensure this warranted the amount of money that needed to be invested in it.”