Wine Enthusiasts Get Direction with new Bridge Pa Winery Signs

Visitors to the Bridge Pa wineries should no longer get lost along the way.

In a pilot project between Hawke’s Bay Wine Country Tourism and Hastings District Council, a series of brown tourism directional signs have been unveiled which will point visitors to wineries from the southern extension of the Hawke’s Bay Expressway.

“We call ourselves ‘Wine Country’ but we don’t make it as easy as we could for visitors to find our wineries,” says Sam Orton, chairman of Hawke’s Bay Wine Country Tourism.

“This pilot project will go a long way to assessing how effective this sort of signage will be in helping our wine industry.”

A cluster of seven wineries in the Bridge Pa area have collaborated with the Hastings District Council to install the signs prior to the fast approaching summer tourist season. The series of signs and winery symbols form the pilot which will assist completion of a broader regional tourism road signs policy. The pilot maximises the opportunity presented with the southern extension to the Hawke’s Bay Expressway.

Bridge Pa Wineries group spokeswoman Adrienne Campbell, says working with the 15 or so different entities involved since January has been a challenge but the recent progress rewarding.

“Even people outside the Bridge Pa area have committed financial support because they’re so passionate about the need for better tourism signs in Hawke’s Bay,” she adds.

A three month evaluation process will follow to allow for feedback and a full review before the council policy is updated. Meanwhile, a broad scoping project will be undertaken to identify regional tourism sign requirements, determine costs and benefits, and plan implementation. Mr Orton says there are other clusters of wineries and activities eagerly awaiting the review process so that they too can apply for similar tourist signs around the region.

Hastings Deputy Mayor Cynthia Bowers has been working with wineries on a number of projects in the area recently, including the signage pilot and preparing nearby Roys Hill reserve to be the new home of The Hawke’s Bay Wine and Food Festival.

She says she’s excited about the potential of the signage pilot to promote the industry.

“Council is keen to support all Hastings businesses and we are open-minded to opportunities like this that look outside conventional solutions to promote the aspirations of our businesses,” Cr Bowers says.

“The review of our signage policy aims to make it easier for business to work with Council on signage solutions.”