Rioja Wine Tourism Tops 1.16 Million Visits

The Regulatory Council for the DOCa Rioja said on Monday that wine tourism in the region continued to expand in 2025, with more than 1.16 million visits and an economic impact of 214.38 million euros, according to the latest Monitor de Enoturismo de la DOCa Rioja, prepared by Dinamiza Asesores.

The report, presented on May 11, shows that Rioja strengthened its position as Spain’s leading wine tourism destination. The total number of visits tied to wine tourism reached 1,164,388 in 2025, crossing the 1 million mark and rising from the previous year. The council said the activity generated 17.16 million euros more than in 2024, underscoring the growing role of tourism in the business model of wineries across the denomination.

The monitor is now in its eighth consecutive annual edition and was created to fill a long-standing gap in centralized data on wine tourism in Rioja. The council treats the DOCa as a single tourist destination made up of three zones: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental. The goal is to track how the sector is evolving, how much it is earning and how it is contributing to the regional economy.

The 2025 report says 226 wineries in Rioja are now open to tourism, the highest figure recorded since the monitor began in 2018, when there were 185. The number dipped to 178 in 2021 before rising again to 204 in 2023 and then to 226 this year. More than 58% of those wineries are integrated into official Wine Routes certified by ACEVIN and Spain’s State Secretariat for Tourism.

The report describes a sector that combines family ownership with a broader range of visitor experiences. Family-run wineries account for 61.11% of those offering tourism activities. Wineries with vineyard-integrated “château” styles represent 41.11%, while 34.44% highlight singular attractions such as museums, gardens or proximity to the Camino de Santiago. Historical underground cellars known as calados appear in 22.22% of cases, centenary wineries make up 20%, and contemporary architecture is present in 17.78%.

Rioja Alta remains one of the strongest areas for wine tourism, with the highest concentration of centenary wineries in Europe and one of the highest in the world, according to the council. Rioja Alavesa, on the north bank of the Ebro River in Álava, stands out for its vineyard landscape and medieval villages. Rioja Oriental, formerly known as Rioja Baja, benefits from climate and soil conditions that also support other agricultural products central to local cuisine.

The report also adds new indicators this year to better measure how wine tourism works as a business line. These include revenue from wine bars, income from meetings and events in the MICE segment, tax contributions linked to enotourism and investment patterns inside wineries. The council said these additions are meant to show not only how many people visit but also how much value the activity creates for wineries and for Rioja as a whole.

According to the study’s methodology, data came from an online questionnaire sent to all wineries with active tourism operations in DOCa Rioja, along with information from the Wine Routes of Rioja Alta, Alavesa and Oriental and winery websites. Of the 226 wineries included in the study population, 96 completed the questionnaire fully. The report says that gives it a confidence level of 95% with a margin of error of 7.3%.

The council said wine tourism has become more than a complementary service for producers and is now a central part of how many wineries present themselves to visitors and generate direct sales. It also noted that collective projects such as Wine Routes have helped connect wineries with broader tourism networks while allowing smaller businesses to reach travelers looking for tastings, guided visits and events.

The findings come as Spanish wine regions continue to compete for visitors seeking food-and-wine travel experiences tied to landscape, heritage and local identity. In Rioja, officials say that mix has helped turn enotourism into one of the denomination’s most important sources of income outside traditional wine sales.