By Molly Taylor
WITH global travel ruled out due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Limestone Coast’s premier wine region is urging visitors to soak up the best of their own backyard through a new regional tourism strategy.
The Coonawarra Vignerons Association’s Swap California for Coonawarra is promoting the district’s food, wine, history and cultural experiences to domestic travellers across the nation, hoping to capitalise on waves of interstate and intrastate visitors.
Association acting executive officer Heidi Eldridge said strategy added a fresh perspective to 2021 and tied in well with a South Australian Tourism Commission campaign, which will launch soon.
While unique in their own right, Ms Eldridge said Coonawarra and Limestone Coast region did have comparable features to California’s climate.
“Its main grape variety is cabernet, it is are close to the coast and we always acknowledge here Coonawarra’s climate is heavily influenced by the near vicinity by coastal towns,” Ms Eldridge said.
“We thought if we were looking at a region which is similar to us, that would be one to compare and entice visitors to think twice about, instead of going overseas, to why not spend it in our own country or state to really bring it all home.”
Ms Eldridge said feedback from wineries indicated this summer holiday period has been busier than ever for some operators.
“There has been a phenomenal amount of people who have come from intrastate, there’s still those people travelling from the metropolitan areas and just getting away to really take in without the congestion,” Ms Eldridge said.
“The borders being back open has also seen the return of Victorian travellers and residents just over the border who would usually be doing day trips and outings.
“Accomodation providers have been well and truly booked out, cellar doors have been seeing remarkable sales and guests have been booking wine tastings.”
Ms Eldridge said visitors were predominately from South Australia and Victoria with a small number of other interstate visitors.
“A lot of the visitation is coming across from coastal areas and day tripping to Coonawarra,” she said.
“There has been a whole spectrum of people who are either camping, glamping, caravanning or staying in bed and breakfasts or accommodation.
“It is on par, if not better than normal and January is typically the busiest season, aside from Easter, and people are saying it will be busy past January.”
Ms Eldridge said numbers showed people were keen to explore again and were appreciating the Limestone Coast’s hidden treasures.
“Our region is isolated to some extent, it is not crowed, there is not too many people around and we have space for people to spread out on the lawns and enjoy themselves,” she said.
“People are actively wanting to discover their backyard more and this is where it ties in with swapping California for Coonawarra.
“We very much acknowledge the fact people can’t travel overseas and I think there will be a bit of hesitation even once things do get back up and running again, that people are not necessarily going to be wanting to visit the United States or Europe.”
Ms Eldridge said high tourism numbers were a positive and hoped if Coonawarra was benefitting, other parts of the Limestone Coast would too.
