The Queensland Wine Industry Association (QWIA) in Australia has released a new strategy to create quality wine tourism experiences and attract the attention of international tourists to the state’s wine regions.

The Australian and State governments have provided the funding for the new five-year strategy.

Implementing the plan is the next step in QWIA’s International Wine Tourism State Grants project.

For the development of the strategy, the Australian government granted A$230,000 ($156,904) funding and Queensland government and QWIA offered matching funds of A$230,000.

Australia Minister for Agriculture senator Bridget McKenzie said: “Australia produces fantastic wine and we want to share that with the world. Our wineries are set amongst idyllic landscapes with friendly communities ready to roll out the red carpet.

“This strategy will help boost tourism throughout our wine regions while also promoting Australian wine to international tourists.”

Every year, on an average, wine tourism travellers visit Queensland and spend more than A$800m ($545m), which is equivalent to 3% of the state’s total visitor expenditure.

QWIA’s strategy aims to create more awareness about wine tourism experiences and target ‘wine tourists’, visiting various locations based on wine and food experiences.

Wine Australia CEO Andreas Clark said: “We want people to choose Queensland’s wine tourism experiences when they think about what to do when visiting Queensland.

“I look forward to seeing local wine businesses embrace this strategy, which is focused on building the resilience and competitiveness of Queensland’s wine sector and growing its contribution to the state’s economy.”

In September, Wine Australia partnered with Hydra Consulting to support wine businesses in Tasmania, Australia.

As part of the initiative, Wine Australia and Hydra Consulting will deliver the ‘Growing Wine Exports’ programme to help companies strengthen their wine sales in target markets.