In May, students in the wine study course from Tio Rotterdam had a very special event week: a wine trip to Château de l’Horte in Montbrun des Corbières, in the South of France. This fantastic trip was organised in cooperation with International Tourism Management student Senna and his father Paul. Their family opened their vineyard château and luxury wine villas to the class and made every effort to ensure the trip was an unforgettable experience. And they succeeded. In a word: amazing!
Interesting, fun and jam-packed programme
The students participated in a jam-packed programme of activities. That included walks through the vast vineyards and visiting the château to take in a fascinating presentation by Paul about what growing grapes involves and how wine production has changed over the years. Plus, of course, the obligatory wine tasting as well. We visited the fortress city of Carcassonne, experienced the silence in Father Theo’s church and enjoyed mouth-watering meals from Omar in restaurant L’Oasis every evening. After dinner, there was always a fun activity: bingo, a pub quiz, karaoke and – why not – another wine tasting.
Marketing plan
There were opportunities for sports, dancing and of course lazing about the swimming pools and jacuzzis at the wine villas. But the students also worked hard in groups to complete the event week assignment: to come up with a workable communication/marketing plan for Paul, in order to strengthen the link between wine production at the château and the wine villas as rental properties. Paul was impressed by the final presentations and the creative input from the students. He plans to put their ideas into practice soon!