The HerritAccess project is also a pleasant challenge for our wine-growing region of Posavje, as it has been recognised as an opportunity for winemakers, wineries and other wine providers in the Dolenjska, Bela krajina and Bizelje region to start thinking about modernising and upgrading their offer along some of the project’s lines. The project was presented to our members (over 100), who are connected to the network of sommeliers through a business model: ‘Development of a network of sommeliers’, which was created within the framework of the Local Action Group Dolenjska and Bela krajina in 2022. The project was set up by the partners: the Grm Novo mesto College of Rural Management, the Grm Novo mesto – Centre of Biotechnics and Tourism, and the Club of Friends of the Metliška črnina wine. In January 2023, the Association of Wine Advisers – Sommeliers of the Posavje Wine Region was established within the Chair for Wine and Supporting Factors for the Development of the Rural Tourism Offer, which is part of the Grm Novo mesto College of Rural Management. The Association works to raise awareness and develop the eno-gastronomic culture and to promote entrepreneurial activities and innovative development partnerships. The Association aims to promote national cuisine, develop sustainable gastronomic tourism, improve the culinary offer in catering and tourist establishments and on the streets, at events and at events, and to develop food and related cultural diversity.
It also strives to introduce innovative approaches to the promotion of winemakers and wineries, supporting them in their photo and video presentations. Here we have also seen the compatibility of some of the activities within the Association’s activities with the Heritaccess project. Using the Dolenjska wine-growing region as an example, we see many opportunities and challenges for certain activities of the Heritaccess project in the tourism product “Tourism in cottages”, which is a recipient of the Silver Sower from the Slovenian Tourist Board (second most innovative touristic product in Slovenia of year 2010). It was awarded the first prize as a sustainable cultural tourism destination in the Wine Tourism 2020 category by ECTN (European Cultural Tourism Network) in a competition of 13 tourism products from all over Europe, which is something we can be very proud of. Visitors to our region are often amazed by the beauty and diversity of our wine hills, covered with beautifully landscaped vineyards, adorned with stone houses and, at the top of the hill, usually small churches that our ancestors built here centuries ago as a sign of thanksgiving. Of particular interest to visitors is the story of the small wine-growers who cultivate these vineyards and produce their own wine. It is also about the integration of the wine-growers and, above all, the integration and cooperation of the providers of the wine cellars with the local environment, the care for the environment and the sensorialisation of the wine hills.
Visitors are also always introduced to traditional viticulture and winemaking, and of course to our unique cviček. The local cuisine and wines, the magnificent views, the architecture of the old cottages and the additional offer of the cottages for pampering (saunas, hot tubs) are a special experience. Visitors are also impressed by the rich offer of the destination, both in terms of cuisine and natural and cultural attractions, which are already abundant in the destination, and we are also in a very attractive location, being less than an hour’s drive from two capitals: Ljubljana and Zagreb. The providers of the bungalows are united in the Bungalow Tourism Consortium and, together with the marketer, the Novo mesto Development Centre, have developed the so-called dispersed hotel model: an authorised marketer carries out promotion and marketing, manages financial flows, registers guests, and calculates and remits tourist taxes. The owner takes care of the cleanliness of the property, the reception and welcome with local delicacies, and informing visitors about local attractions and events. The challenge for our operators in the future will certainly be to promote this type of tourism product to the visitors that the Heritaccess project addresses.
Text and images by Franci Mežič, Grm Novo mesto – center biotehnike in turizma