Woodinville, WA (November 7, 2022) – Woodinville Wine Country (WWC), a destination marketing and trade organization for the wine tourism industry in the greater Woodinville area, has secured a $10,000 Technical Assistance Grant from the State of Washington Tourism. With those funds, WWC will partner with Community Benchmark to launch a new initiative aimed at increasing business growth through coordinated comparison with their peers. Using Community Benchmark’s proprietary algorithms, wineries in the WWC will be able to measure the relative success of their tasting rooms and discover new growth opportunities. This initiative is seen as an important step in developing Woodinville Wine Country into a premier wine tourism destination.
“We’ve been wanting to work with Woodinville wineries for some time. We are incredibly excited to be working with the Woodinville Wine Country to help each member winery and other wine tourism stakeholders be even more responsive to the regional trends.” says Founder, John Keleher. “I personally am excited to be a part of a new era in Woodinville Wine with their new leadership. Combining Woodinville information with what we’re already doing in Walla Walla will create a much more complete picture of Washington Wine.”
“Deploying Community Benchmark across our region is vital to us understanding the true impact the wine tourism industry has on our state and community.” said Adam Acampora, Executive Director of Woodinville Wine Country. “Having hard data readily available for our wineries and our partners will allow them to make smart decisions in how they grow their operations. While giving WWC the ability to better deploy our marketing resources in attracting new tourists to the region.”
The use of this economic analytic system would not have been possible without funding made available through a new Grant Program created by the State of Washington Tourism. The Technical Assistance grant was designed to subsidize the cost of industry specific expertise for tourism related projects.
“A review committee of industry experts believed research and data from this project would support Woodinville Wine Country in several ways.” said Matt Ozuna, Destination Development Manager with SWT. “It will help assess economic impact, marketing strategy, and competitiveness with wine destinations across the U.S. The Technical Assistance Grant from the SWT will allow Woodinville Wine Country to track and analyze metrics associated with those key objectives.”
In the coming months, WWC will work with its winery members to ensure a critical mass of wineries participate with Community Benchmark to ensure sample success. The initial sign up period kicks off November 10th, 2022.
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About Woodinville Wine Country
Woodinville Wine Country is a 501(c)(6) destination marketing and trade association who represents the growing presence of the Washington state wine industry in the Greater Woodinville area. The association’s mission is to serve our members, by supporting the development and promotion of a world-class wine tourism destination.
About State of Washington Tourism
SWT is a 501(c)(6) organization and serves as the official destination marketing organization for the State of Washington. It has and will continue to work closely with destination organizations, rural communities, tribes, and tourism/hospitality-related small businesses in Washington State. Its mission centers on destination promotion and destination development across the state. SWT procures and administers funds for statewide destination promotion activities, including strategic marketing plans and community-based destination development projects.
About Community Benchmark
Community Benchmark is a privately held company based in Santa Rosa, California. Founded by John Keleher, Community Benchmark uses proprietary algorithms to measure the relative success of tasting rooms and helps wineries discover new growth opportunities. Industry experts, including Wine Business Monthly serve as advisors to Community Benchmark. For more information visit communitybenchmark.com. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn
Media Contact:
James Wagner
Woodinville Wine Country Director of Marketing
O: 425.287.3298
https://woodinvillewinecountry.com/