The Sea of Wine project has been launched to promote the Black Sea region as an attractive wine tourism destination

July 12, 2021 – Yerevan, Armenia – The official launch ceremony of the EU-funded project Sea of Wine took place on July 2 in Yerevan, Armenia. The aim of the EU-funded project is to create a consolidated wine route connecting Armenia, Georgia, Greece, and Ukraine.

The event brought together Armenia’s wine industry and government representatives, and project partners from Georgia, Greece, and Ukraine. Arman Khojoyan, Deputy Minister of Economy of the Republic of Armenia, welcomed guests and shared thoughts about the importance of promoting wine and hospitality sectors in a consolidated way.

The 26-month project is funded by the European Union and will be co-implemented in 2020-2022 by the International Center for Agribusiness Research and Education Foundation (Armenia), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), Georgian Center for Agribusiness Development (Georgia), and Odessa National Academy of Food Technologies (Ukraine) in close collaboration with the Joint Technical Secretariat of the Black Sea Basin Joint Operational Programme 2014-2020.

“We strive to establish the Black Sea region as a wine travel destination on the global travel map through the Sea of Wine initiative, as well as to support local businesses including wineries, travel agencies, accommodation facilities, and gastronomic locations. The partner countries are part of the Historic World of Wine, which, if aggressively marketed, has the potential to attract a lot of attention and interest from tourists”, said Arthur Grigoryan, Director at the ICARE Foundation, Armenia.

Partner organizations aim to promote the Black Sea region as a wine tourism destination by creating a platform, organizing various impressive events, and most importantly, implementing wine routes, thus developing them into a single Black Sea Wine Route. The latter will be available at an in-house ICT platform, helping businessmen across the region to breathe life into their businesses and catering for travelers with everything they need.

All in all, the desired result the project is about to achieve is as follows:

• to develop an ICT platform that will include all the necessary information about the region as a wine production and tourism destination;
• to launch one-of-a-kind Let’s Talk about Wine event series;
• to hold The Wines of the Black Sea event intended to enhance the cross-border cooperation and positioning of the Black Sea region as a single wine tourism destination;
• to introduce the common label, The Black Sea Wine Glass Member will unite the countries and bring more recognition to the region as a wine tourism destination.

The revealing part was followed by a reception, wine quizzes, and a blind wine tasting which made the day unforgettable.

The Sea of Wine initiative is one of the best opportunities for wine and travel sector businesses and stakeholders from the partner countries to spend resources and benefit for years to come. They are encouraged to present and promote their products and services, as well as contribute to the recognition of the Black Sea region as the Historic World of Wine.

The project is implemented through the Joint Operational Programme Black Sea Basin 2014-2020 funded by the European Neighbourhood Instrument in close collaboration with the Joint Technical Secretariat.