Bodegas Baigorri continues to make progress in its approach to wine tourism. Having successfully completed the relevant audit process, the winery has been awarded ‘Empresa Turistica Inteligente´ (ETI) certification by AENOR in accordance with the UNE 178510:2023 standard.
The certification recognises the implementation of a management system aimed at transforming and improving tourism activity based on five key areas: governance and management, innovation, technology, accessibility and sustainability. This model also seeks to utilise data and new tools to improve decision-making and offer visitors a better experience.
In the case of Bodegas Baigorri, the certification covers the various activities that form part of its wine tourism offering in Samaniego: winery tours and wine tastings, restaurant and bar services, wine sales and online experiences, event organisation and function room hire.
A way of understanding wine tourism
Ever since its conception, Bodegas Baigorri has sought to ensure that a visit to the winery offers an insight into its unique approach to winemaking and its connection with Rioja Alavesa.
The architecture, with its distinctive glass cube integrated into the landscape, guides visitors through a winery designed to operate entirely by gravity. The tour continues, exploring wine, gastronomy and the local area, ensuring that each of these elements forms part of a single experience.
Achieving ETI certification represents a new step within this model and, in particular, a commitment to its constant evolution.
Being a Smart Tourism Enterprise involves incorporating innovation into processes and services, utilising technology to improve the visitor experience, moving towards ever-greater universal accessibility, and developing tourism activities whilst taking into account their environmental, social and economic impact. The UNE 178510:2023 standard specifically sets out requirements, recommendations and indicators in these areas and applies to the entire range of activities carried out by tourism enterprises.
Baigorri, part of the Basque Country’s commitment to smarter tourism
The certification also forms part of the strategy promoted in the Basque Country to move towards a more innovative, sustainable, accessible and competitive tourism sector. Basquetour has promoted the implementation of the UNE 178510:2023 standard amongst various Basque tourism organisations, including wineries and other tourist attractions.
The standard was initiated by SEGITTUR and the State Secretariat for Tourism and developed within the UNE Sub-committee on Smart Tourist Destinations. Its aim is to bring the smart tourism model into the business sphere and to encourage companies to connect with Smart Tourist Destinations.
For Bodegas Baigorri, this recognition means continuing to build on a simple idea: that getting to know a winery today should be about much more than simply visiting it. It means understanding its landscape, its wines and its cuisine, but also enjoying an experience that is increasingly well-curated, accessible, sustainable and tailored to the needs of those who visit.
It is a way of understanding wine tourism that looks to the future without losing sight of what is essential: the wine and the region from which it originates.