Viseu, Portugal, Nov. 4, 2025 (Lusa) - The president of the northern Portugal Dao Regional Wine Commission (CVR), Arlindo Cunha, on Tuesday denounced the lack of a support programme for small and medium-sized wine producers to invest in and thereby promote wine tourism.
"We needed a programme that would support the implementation of small infrastructure to welcome wine tourists to farms and wineries," Arlindo Cunha told the Lusa news agency.
Infrastructure created from scratch or adapted for "a wine shop that is a pleasant and well-decorated space, in keeping with regional or local traditions".
"Building decent sanitary facilities, one or two infrastructures for a kitchen, for parking, improving access or even a wine tasting room," he added.
For Arlindo Cunha, "these are small infrastructures that are essential for attracting and welcoming tourists, especially for small and medium-sized wine producers, who are in the majority in regions" such as Dão.
In this regard, he revealed his desire for "the next multiannual financial framework, starting in 2028, to provide support of this nature" in a way that is "properly structured and designed for wine tourism."
Arlindo Cunha was speaking to the Lusa news agency at the end of the opening session of the 13th Wine Tourism Conference promoted by the Dão CVR in partnership with the regions of Bairrada, Beira Interior, Lisbon and Tejo, which is taking place today and Wednesday, and is dedicated to "Wine tourism as a factor of innovation for the destination".
Partnerships between regions, winegrowers and other economic areas ended up being the focus of the guests at the opening session, namely the vice-president of the centre region tourist board, Anabela Freitas.
"We need to define strategies, not in competition between regions, because then we have this problem in the Centre region of eight intermunicipal communities [CIM] and 100 local authorities, and what we have to continue working on is that what is good for my local authority is also good for the local authority next door" and the same in the CIM.
Anabela Freitas emphasised that the sector "is an instrument that can increase and boost local economies" and if tourism and wine tourism "are economic activities, the entire value chain has to make money, from the producer to the final consumer".
Wine "is one of the three qualifiers of tourism for the foreign market" and, therefore, "it is a segment that has a lot of room to grow" and "the secret, perhaps the difficulty, is how to articulate all this".
For Anabela Freitas, this may involve joint work between various economic activities, because "a tourist's motivation may be wine, but they may also enjoy nature or religious tourism" and Fátima is in the centre of the country and this ‘'coordination must exist".
Jorge Brandão, from the Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR) of the Centre, also highlighted the importance of "being competitive, sustainable and very consistent" in the implementation of projects, because "it is necessary to be prepared at the local level, in a spirit of partnership and joint work, in order to be competitive at the international level".
The Mayor of the city council of Viseu, João Azevedo, who participated in his first public event since taking office, promised to "pay attention to the sector in the municipal budget" for 2026 and announced a "major initiative" in Viseu next Easter to promote "two products of excellence: cheese and wine".
"We will have a joint agenda with the CIM and this great region, and I challenge you to think about creating routines and itineraries that will break down barriers between regions. This region will only be stronger if we are all united," argued João Azevedo.
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Lusa
