The Canary Islands' Chair of Agrotourism and Wine Tourism, of the Canary Islands Institute of Agri-Food Quality (ICCA) and the University of La Laguna (ULL), has strengthened its international projection with a prominent participation in the 1st Brazilian Wine Tourism Encounter, promoted by the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Sul (IFRS) and held in Brazil last week.
The participation of the Chair is part of the framework collaboration agreement signed between the University of La Laguna and the IFRS, a strategic alliance aimed at the transfer of knowledge and the development of joint projects in the field of wine tourism, sustainability, and agri-food quality. The event, coordinated by Professor Hernanda Tonini, included the official opening by the rector of the IFRS, Júlio Xandro Heck.
During the meeting, the Director of the Chair, Jesús de las Heras Roger, and the General Coordinator, Gabriel Santos García, discussed the progress of the collaboration agreement and reaffirmed the commitment of both institutions to promoting research and training in the field of wine tourism.
The Chair's delegation took advantage of their stay in Brazil to hold strategic meetings with the directors and coordinators of the IFRS in the areas of Extension, Research and Postgraduate Studies, with the aim of strengthening academic cooperation and opening new lines of joint work. They also visited the facilities of the Bento Gonçalves campus, a benchmark of the IFRS, and shared a working meeting with the team of the Programa de Pós-Graduação em Viticultura e Enologia.
The Canary Islands representation had an active presence throughout the event. The director of the Chair, Jesús de las Heras Roger, was in charge of giving the closing presentation, in which he presented the keys to success and the challenges of managing and promoting wine tourism in the Canary Islands as an engine for territorial development and improvement of wine quality.
For his part, the general coordinator, Gabriel Santos García, participated in a round table focused on the challenges and opportunities of wine tourism, which served as a space for the exchange of good practices between academics, professionals, and students of the sector.
In addition, the Chair offered a Masterclass in parallel to the students of the Viticulture and Oenology program of the IFRS, under the title "The uniqueness and wine-growing wealth that unites the wines of the Canary Islands." The session included a guided tasting of Canarian wines, bringing the diversity and quality of the Archipelago's wine products closer to the Brazilian academic community.
"Our presence at the IFRS, sponsored by the agreement with the University of La Laguna, represents a fundamental step to project the knowledge and the Canarian management model internationally. It is an unbeatable opportunity to create synergies and enrich our Chair with the experiences that are being developed in Brazil, a leading country in outreach and research," said Jesús de las Heras Roger, director of the Chair of Agrotourism and Wine Tourism of the Canary Islands.
