34,7% of Spanish DO wines sold abroad are from Rioja

Annual Report 2022 of the Regulatory Council

The Spanish Wine Market Observatory confirms that Rioja wines are revalued in world markets (+12%), reaching the highest average price in the series, with €5,40/liter.

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With 748.345 visits in 2022, 62,64% more than the previous year, Rioja once again positions itself as a reference and engine of Spanish wine tourism activity. It thus consolidates its recovery in the field of wine tourism, increasingly closing the gap with the data prepandemic, with a variation of -12,79% compared to 2019, when the wineries of Rioja They received a record number of 860.000 visits.

 

La Annual Report 2022, published by the Regulatory Council, collects these indicators of the “DOCa Rioja Wine Tourism Monitor 2022”, a report that in its fifth edition supports the takeoff of wine tourism in the Denomination. Thus, the average visitor spending in the winery amounts to 36,53 euros, 20,68% higher than in 2021, even exceeding pre-pandemic spending by 5,40%. For its part, the average expense per person and day in the region is estimated at 217,67 euros.

 

Altogether, the global impact of wine tourism in Rioja was 155.528.954 million euros, almost 50% (49,93%) more than in 2021, generating value both for the wineries of the Denomination and the region itself, as well as for the rest of the Spanish tourism and wine tourism ecosystem.

 

Other indicators such as increase in international demand, which stands at 29,12% of total demand (vs. 20,3% in 2021), confirm the positive trend towards the total post-pandemic restoration of wine tourism in Rioja. In fact, both the Report and the Monitor confirm that wine tourism in the Denomination It is recovering at a faster rate than the Spanish tourism sector, whose international demand in 2022 was 14% below that of 2019.

 

Wine tourism in Rioja had an economic impact of more than 155 million euros, almost 50% more than the previous year

 

These data from the Wine Tourism Monitor were presented this morning at the Regulatory Council, in a meeting with the Administrations of the Autonomous Communities through which the Denomination extends, and representatives of the three Wine Routes in Rioja, leaders of national wine tourism and certified by the Spanish Association of Wine Cities (ACEVIN): Rioja Alavesa Wine Route, Rioja Alta Wine Route and Oriental Rioja Wine Route.

 

Manuel Ángel Romero, managing partner of Dinamiza, consultant specialized in wine tourism and in charge of creating the Rioja Wine Tourism Monitor, explained that “the data from the Monitor show us the important evolution of wine tourism and its strong capacity for recovery, which shows the wineries' commitment to generating new experiences and greater added value. A large part of them claim not only to have recovered the activity levels of 2019, but to have far surpassed them, which shows us that we are experiencing a turning point in wine tourism, a moment of opportunity."

Closing the balance of the 2022 financial year of the Rioja Qualified Denomination of Origin

 

As the Regulatory Council In its 2022 marketing balance, presented last February, Rioja maintains its leadership position at the national level. The Annual Report provides new conclusions from the study carried out by Nielsen IQ, a leading consultancy in audience measurement, data and analysis, which certifies a growth of 0,3 points in share, reaching 27,5% of the volume, a figure much higher than the other Denominations in Spain and which doubles the following Denomination. Likewise, in terms of value, in 2022, Rioja represented practically a third (31,7%) of the total Spanish Designation of Origin wine category.

 

Likewise, the Nielsen analysis, which provides data for the entire national market, the Denomination of Origin Rioja Qualified remains ahead in both the Food and Hospitality channels, with shares of 27,5% and 30,7% respectively. Rioja also leads the online marketing of wine in Food, taking 33% of sales in this channel (16 percentage points above the next competitor).

 

In the assessment of this new data provided by the consulting firm, which closes the balance that the Regulatory Council made on the previous year in February, Ricardo Alcón, Head of Business Development Nielsen IQ, comments: “The DOCa Rioja, thanks to its strong leadership in Hospitality, once again increased its sales in the national market above the market average, which has allowed it to continue gaining share up to 27,5% in volume. Despite the current inflationary context and contraction of the disposable income of Spanish households, Rioja's good positioning in the Hospitality and Food channels consolidates its leadership position in both markets with shares of 30,7% and 25,2%. .XNUMX% respectively.”

 

For its part, the published Report also includes the main data provided by the Spanish Wine Market Observatory, referring to the analysis of customs records for 2022. Despite the negative behavior of exports that was already advanced in the balance of the year presented by the Council, completing a year of sales that did not respond to the expected increase, these data show that Rioja represented 40,5% of the value of Spanish exports of bottled PDO wine and 34,7% of the total volume in the previous year. Likewise, the Observatory confirms that Rioja wines are revalued in world markets (+12%), reaching the highest average price in the series, with €5,40/liter.

 

Check Rioja's activity in full in 2022

 

In addition to collecting the main indicators referring to the marketing balance and figures related to the wine tourism of the Rioja Qualified Denomination of Origin, the Annual Report of the Regulatory Council -which for the second consecutive year is published exclusively in digital format- covers the main milestones of the Denomination throughout the year 2022, as well as specific activity reporting sections in key areas for Rioja such as Sustainability, national promotion activity and international and Rioja Wine Academy.

 

In the welcome message of the document, signed by the president of the DOCa Rioja Regulatory Council, Fernando Ezquerro, he highlights that, in 2022, “we have made progress in something essential: valuing our wine and our land. It is as important to carve out the future as it is to understand, treasure and appreciate what has allowed us to get here after almost a century of history. We continue to maintain the strong and energetic sap that made us overcome so many challenges and that surpassed us so much in the past. Today Rioja is more capable and dynamic than ever.”