Season 1 / Episode 3: The Future Of The Wine Industry

COVID 19’s impact on the wine industry.

Summer of 2020 will look very different for people in BC this year and other parts of the world. People love to travel during the sunny months, especially in BC, and one of the top places to visit is wineries. However, many adventurous travelers will have to cancel their plans this year to get the worldwide pandemic under control. 

Another essential summer right of passage beside road trips is weddings. They are a massive part of the summer season, and wineries are popular wedding venues. However, again not to sound like a broken record, but we cannot gather in big groups. This means wineries with all those weddings booked years in advance will lose their primary revenue source. COIVD-19 is putting a wrench into people's social and business plans for 2020.  

The world might seem like a gloomy place at the moment, but a lot of people are pivoting their businesses and trying to put a positive spin on the situation. The wine industry is shifting to figure out how they can still host weddings, and if they don't; they will have to find are other revenue sources? Maybe winery owners will have to develop smaller group offerings and add some more virtual elements. Wineries will also have to think about how to be profitable when they don't see the tourist numbers they usually see each summer. All these questions are discussed and answered by my COPING-19 guest winery owner Doug Bell. He owns Northern Lights Estate Winery, the first winery in Prince George. Learn how he is pivoting his winery business in this age of COVID-19 on the next episode of my podcast COPING 19.