Topping up wine tourism

WINEMAKER and agritourism operator Food and Beverage Australia Limited (FABAL) has completed a $20 million acquisition of two vineyard portfolios spanning assets in South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria.

Marandoo Estate in Langhorne Creek and National Vineyard Fund of Australia Limited, both of which were already partly purchased by FABAL, are now 100% owned by the company.

The added wine portfolios include vineyards in the Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Langhorne Creek, Padthaway, Margaret River and Heathcote wine regions, and join a growing list of key food & wine tourism assets such as bed & breakfast accommodation, numerous cellar doors and the famous Barossa Valley Chocolate Company in Tanunda, SA.

FABAL CEO and co-founder, Chris Day, told The Advertiser he was bullish about the prospect of growing tourism opportunities.

“While we have faced many obstacles - both natural and man-made - during our 40 years of operation, we’ve always come out stronger,” Day said.

“These recent challenges have been damaging in unique ways, but they have provided the motivation to strengthen our group’s position within our industries, particularly Australian tourism,” he added.

Wine tourism remains big business in Australia, with figures from Wine Australia showing 5.5 million visitors went to a winery in the country for the year ending Sep 2020, spending $5.9 billion during their trip and staying for an average of six nights.

Australia domestic travellers comprised the bulk of traffic, recording 51% of all visitors.