Waipara wine growth spurs visitors

Waipara Valley, one of the fastest growing wine regions in New Zealand, is seeing a big jump in tourism to the area as a result of the interest in local wine, Alpine Pacific general manager Scott Pearson said today.

Commerical guest nights in the Hurunui district, which incorporates Waipara Valley, have jumped 14.8 percent over the last four years to a total of in April to 317,876, compared to 276,886 for the year ending the previous April 2004. Canterbury’s increase was 13.8 percent and the national figure rose 9.6 percent over this period.

``Waipara Valley is one of the fastest growing wine regions in the country right now. The region’s microclimate favours wine and we have seen significant investment, especially over the last eight years,’’ Pearson said.

`` Tourism in Waipara is also growing with greater numbers visiting winery restaurants, boutique cellar doors and winery cottages. Major developments are just around the corner and being only 45 minutes from Christchurch and the international airport the region is in a prime position to welcome visitors.’’

“Waipara Valley is the rapidly growing third apex of the Alpine Pacific Triangle touring route which includes Hanmer Springs (hot pools) and Kaikoura (whales). To showcase the region’s best local fare, we have recently launched the North Canterbury Wine and Food Trail.

Waipara now has 79 vineyards in the region and up to 1000 hectares of grapes. The region has seen a 240 percent increase in its annual grape harvest on the previous year.
 

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