This month, Vinehealth Australia has launched a campaign to encourage bus tour operators to talk to their customers about vine health topics.
Educational kits containing an introductory letter, a fact sheet full of practical tips for keeping vines safe and 10 ‘healthy vines’ bumper stickers for tour vehicles have been posted out to hundreds of bus tour operators in South Australia.
“Bus tour operators play a key role in educating tourists. They have a captive audience during transit, so we’re asking them to please use this time to educate their customers about how they can protect our wine industry from pests and diseases by not walking or driving amongst vines,” said Vinehealth Australia CEO Inca Pearce.
The bus tour operator campaign is part of the Responsible Visitation Campaign (RVC), which includes the Wine Tourism Biosecurity Training Program for cellar door and tourism staff.
This program arms tourism staff with tools and language to educate tourists about keeping vines safe. Hundreds of cellar door and tourism staff around SA have been trained since the program began in 2018.
This year, training is also being offered to bus tour operators. “Bus tour operators can make responsible and sustainable tourism part of their business operations by attending a session,” said Inca. “We encourage everyone involved in wine tourism to attend a session.”
Training session bookings can be made by emailing the Vinehealth Australia training manager Hayley Conolly at admin@vinehealth.com.au or by phoning Vinehealth Australia on (08) 8273 0550.