GastroTour Workshop at Stellenbosch: Advancing Skills and Innovation in Wine Tourism
From 17 to 19 November 2025, Stellenbosch University and Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) and Creation Wines (industry partner) co-hosted international delegates for the GastroTour workshop, an initiative aimed at strengthening skills development, innovation, and sustainability within the food-and-wine tourism sector. This project is an Erasmus + co-funded project. The event brought together academics, industry stakeholders, and industry bodies from South Africa, Portugal, Czech Republic, Spain, and Georgia for three days of dialogue, and experiential engagement in the wine capital of South Africa – Stellenbosch and in the Hemel-en-Aarde Wine Valley.
Stellenbosch University was represented by Dr Erna Blancquaert (Department of Viticulture and Oenology) and Dr Melissa van der Merwe (Department of Agricultural Economics). Dr Blancquaert spearheaded the coordination for the workshop, ensuring that the programme highlighted the academic excellence of Stellenbosch University and the cultural heritage of the Cape Winelands. Her efforts positioned Stellenbosch as a central platform for global collaboration in wine tourism capacity-building.
Dr van der Merwe contributed on two fronts. She served as a panellist on Elizabeth Colucci’s (OBREAL) “From vine to table: Empowering regional tourism through skills, innovation and sustainable growth” panel together with Gregory Lorimer (Oldenburg Wine Estate), Heidi Duminy (Cape Wine Academy), and Linda Lipparoni (WIETA). Her role on the panel was to present the role of a higher education institution in lifelong learning to upskill our wine and food tourism sectors for sustainable growth. She also moderated the panel on “The current state of wine and agricultural tourism in South Africa: challenges, trends and future pathways” where she guided her panellists Carolyn Martin (Creation), Breyton Milford (AgriExpo), Elmarie Rabe (SA Wine Routes Forum), and Roger Domingo (Pinotage Youth Development Academy) through a discussion of evolving consumer tourism expectations, sustainability imperatives, and the role of data, digitalisation, and inclusive development in the wine and agri tourism sectors.
In her role as project coordinator, Dr Blancquaert created a masterful blend between academic sessions with immersive field experiences, including winery visits and culinary experiences, enabling participants to engage directly with the intersection of viticulture, gastronomy, and regional tourism. A major output of the GastroTour initiative is the development of a new online learning platform designed for lifelong learning and training across the food-and-wine tourism value chain.
GastroTour’s Stellenbosch edition underscored the power of international collaboration in line with Stellenbosch University’s strategic imperatives. By uniting academic excellence, industry knowledge, and global networks, the workshop marks a significant step toward strengthening sustainable wine, food and agri tourism.
