More Ways To Market Wine When It's Forbidden To Market Wine

(Forbes) - Regulations against the promotion of alcohol that have been imposed by the Turkish government since June 2013 are meant to impact Turkish people. Wineries can promote themselves outside Turkey, to non-Turks, all they want.

The catch is that up to 95% of the wine produced within Turkey has been until now consumed domestically. Which puts wineries, the younger and less-established ones in particular, in a difficult situation, to say the least.

Wineries are, of course, turning their attention and resources to markets abroad. Broadly speaking, wineries I spoke to see the UK and the US as target markets because of their general openness toward new wines from lesser-known regions; Sweden and Germany are target markets because of their long history and interest in wine, and their higher level of knowledge about it; and Asian markets are still seen as uncertain or unknown.

It won’t be easy for Turkish wineries to gain a toehold. In the meantime, they’ve adopted several strategies for marketing themselves: yesterday’s post focused on Word of Mouth marketing and selling wine Direct to Consumer, while today’s post considers Wine Tourism and wineries’ abilities to align themselves with agricultural and trade initiatives in order to reach foreign markets.

Wine – No, Vineyard – Tourism

Twelve wineries in the Thrace region of Turkey have banded together to form the Trakya Bağ Rotasi, or Thrace Wine Route. Located west of Istanbul, on the European side of the country, the Thrace region benefits from its proximity to Istanbul’s population as well as its pivotal maritime geography: the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, and the Aegean Sea all border and influence the region’s climate and flow of visitors.