Is wine tourism missing out on the night-time economy?

At 6 p.m., a visitor's day is far from over. For many wineries, however, it's already over. This discrepancy speaks volumes about how wine tourism has developed. Conceived as an extension of the winery's activities, it was generally organized around daytime hours for visiting cellars, learning about production, tasting, and then buying. Now, experiences have become richer, visitor facilities have become more professional, and gastronomy, accommodation, art, wellness, and events have gradually become integrated into the properties. This evolution has often transformed what is offered to visitors, but ultimately has rarely questioned when it is offered . Yet, when the winery closes, the visitor doesn't stop consuming.

1. After 6 p.m., where does the tourist value go?

A visitor leaving a winery in the late afternoon generally doesn't leave the area, nor does they leave their consumer mindset. They return to their hotel, look for a terrace, book a restaurant, attend an event, or continue their exploration elsewhere. Spending continues; only their destination changes. Major urban destinations have already begun to measure this time-saving aspect. In Madrid, 30.1% of spending in establishments occurs between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. In Montreal, visitors participating in nightlife activities represent 22% of tourists and generate $2.26 billion in direct spending. London has also been integrating the night-time economy into its economic, cultural, and tourism development policies for several years. While not directly applicable to vineyards, this data shows that a significant portion of tourist spending occurs precisely when traditional wine tourism offerings cease operations. The issue, therefore, goes far beyond winery opening hours. It concerns a region's ability to capture the value generated by the visitors it already welcomes.

This approach is particularly relevant in established wine destinations. When visitor numbers are already significant, their continued increase can become difficult, even contradictory to the objectives of preserving the region and ensuring a high-quality experience. Creating more value no longer necessarily means welcoming more visitors. Time spent in the region becomes a strategic variable . The longer a visitor stays, the more opportunities for consumption multiply across restaurants, accommodation, culture, leisure activities, shops, and transportation. The goal is not for the winery to capture all of this spending alone, but for the wine destination to retain visitors within its economic ecosystem to strengthen the performance of its wine tourism sector. The evening economy offers potential for growth without a direct increase in visitor numbers. In addition to the number of visitors, factors such as length of stay, the number of experiences consumed, local spending, and whether a day trip leads to an overnight stay can be considered. Rather than systematically looking for what should be built or added, part of the value may lie in a resource already available: the visitor's time.

2. Nighttime, a new time for experience

Opening later is only worthwhile if this extended timeframe creates a different experience. A tasting organized at 8 p.m. with the exact same format as at 3 p.m. does not, in itself, constitute a new tourism product. Sunset is widely promoted in coastal, island, and urban destinations. From rooftop bars to beach clubs, some operators have built part of their appeal around this specific time of day. Vineyards possess numerous attributes to do the same : open landscapes, varied terrain, heritage, gastronomy, terraces, gardens, and outdoor spaces. The evening also reveals other resources such as silence, darkness, the illumination of heritage buildings and monuments, and, in some rural areas, the quality of the night sky. In this respect, several wine destinations have already begun to develop products around nightlife.

• In Italy , Calici di Stelle , organized by the Movimento Turismo del Vino Italia (Italian Wine Tourism Movement, is one of the most structured examples. For several weeks each summer, wineries and villages offer tastings under the stars, dinners, concerts, sunset walks, and astronomical observations. The 2026 edition mobilizes dozens of wineries across several Italian regions. Its strength lies less in each individual event than in its collective dimension, where the night becomes a recognizable regional wine tourism product.

• In California , Sonoma Valley is developing a different approach with Friday Night Flights . Several wineries extend their operations into Friday evenings, in conjunction with local restaurants and establishments. The winery then becomes one part of an evening that can continue elsewhere in the destination.

• In Stellenbosch , South Africa, sunset wine tastings , dinners in the vineyards and musical programs are gradually appearing in the regular tourist offering.

• In Lavaux , Switzerland, the Nuits des Capites show that a nighttime experience can, on the contrary, remain confidential, in small groups, in the heart of the vineyard.

These models show that developing the nighttime economy doesn't necessarily mean transforming vineyards into nightlife hotspots. A premium estate might focus on a few private dinners, a lifestyle estate on developing a musical program, a heritage site on lighting and set design, while a small producer might offer intimate sunset experiences. The product must remain consistent with the estate's positioning.

3. Climate could accelerate the change in temporality

Considering nighttime conditions takes on added significance in vineyards facing high summer temperatures. In Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, and the South of France, certain outdoor activities become less appealing in the middle of the afternoon. Walks through the vineyards, wine tastings on terraces, cycling, and heritage tours are all directly affected by the increasing frequency of heat waves. Climate adaptation in tourism has largely been addressed from a seasonal perspective , focusing on developing shoulder seasons—spring and autumn—and better distributing visitor flows throughout the year. Now, however, it could also be implemented on a daily basis. The goal is no longer simply to shift visitors from one season to another, but to redistribute activities across different times of day. Outdoor experiences could thus be concentrated in the morning, giving way to indoor activities or rest during the hottest hours, and then resuming in the late afternoon and evening with a focus on wine, gastronomy, culture, or events. In Mediterranean regions, this organization also aligns with historically climate-based lifestyles, which the tourism industry has not always integrated.

This temporal redistribution opens up new economic perspectives. A climatic constraint can become the starting point for a new tourism cycle. Lower temperatures, sunsets, and changing light create conditions conducive to new ways of experiencing the vineyards. Evening no longer simply extends the day; it can become one of its highlights. Such a development, however, presupposes that the rest of the ecosystem follows suit. Shifting experiences without adapting transportation, restaurants, or the schedules of other services would only displace the problem. Climate adaptation thus directly links to the issue of territorial coordination.

4. From late opening to the destination ecosystem

While the opportunity may seem obvious to visitors, its exploitation is far more complex for professionals. Extending opening hours means increasing working hours, organizing team rotations, incurring additional costs, and operating with customer volumes that are sometimes difficult to predict. In France, this issue arises in a context already marked by significant pressure on tourism employment. In 2026, 44% of recruitment projects in the accommodation and food service sector are considered difficult . This proportion approaches 59% for cooks and exceeds 73% for head chefs. In the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, nearly one in two recruitments in the sector is deemed difficult. Added to this are the cost of labor, regulations concerning working hours, overtime, and rest periods, employee travel in the evening, and, when business continues even further, specific provisions for night work. A nighttime tourism economy cannot therefore sustainably rely on an additional effort demanded of operators already facing recruitment and profitability challenges.

Last week, I wanted to have dinner in Vézelay, in the Burgundy wine region, before a concert at the basilica. Walking up the main street, most of the restaurants were closed. Of those that were open, many were full, and the reception given to walk-in visitors could sometimes be particularly abrupt. It was a Saturday evening in August, in the middle of the tourist season, in a destination whose basilica welcomes nearly a million visitors a year . Of course, this isn't about criticizing a full restaurant for not having a table available, but this example illustrates the difference between attracting visitors and being organized to welcome them . An evening concert potentially generates revenue from food service, transportation, parking, and accommodation. When capacity, schedules, and services aren't coordinated with this demand, a portion of the potential value goes unmet. Customer service is also part of the experience. Directing guests to an alternative, suggesting a different time, or simply properly addressing a request that cannot be fulfilled contributes to the overall experience. The visitor does not perceive the concert, the restaurant, their hotel and their transport as four separate components. They experience a single, unified destination.

For operators, the challenge then becomes making the evening experience sustainable. The development of extended hours directly raises the question of their cost to businesses and their attractiveness to employees. The level of costs associated with the most demanding schedules, the terms of seasonal employment, and mechanisms to facilitate recruitment are therefore part of the debate. Solutions already exist through employer groups, the pooling of certain human resources, the organization of shift rotations, and organized housing solutions for seasonal workers in destinations where accommodation is scarce or expensive. It's also important to recognize that the entire offering of a destination doesn't need to be available 24/7. The Northern Rhône Valley destination provides a good example with its Rendez-Wine events . From May to September, participating wineries and tourism stakeholders collaborate on a joint program combining aperitifs in the vineyards, sunset tastings, after-work gatherings, concerts, and gastronomic experiences. The principle directly addresses the constraints faced by small tourism businesses: not all wineries need to be open every evening for the destination to consistently offer something to experience after 6 p.m. Pooling resources involves scheduling, programming, communication, and marketing. A rotation system among operators ensures a consistent offering while distributing the workload. This coordination must also incorporate mobility. Vineyards are often rural areas where public transportation becomes scarce in the evenings. Shuttles, on-demand transport, taxis, ride-hailing services, or services offered by accommodation providers are all the more essential when experiences combine travel and wine consumption. Without mobility solutions, the vineyard's nighttime economy quickly reaches its limits.

Having an ecosystem of stakeholders is not enough to create a clear and marketable tourism product. The various components of the offering often already exist, but it is still up to the visitor to identify, combine, and book them. Building a true evening economy therefore requires connecting experiences, their schedules, and availability with restaurants, accommodations, and mobility solutions. AI agents could significantly facilitate this step. By cross-referencing schedules, availability, location, visitor preferences, and mobility options, they will gradually enable the creation of personalized itineraries from what was previously a fragmented offering : a sunset tasting, dinner nearby, a concert or event, and then a return to the accommodation. For rural areas, this capability can be particularly crucial, as their limitations do not always stem from a lack of offerings, but rather from their fragmentation and the difficulty of making them immediately accessible and bookable. Four levels of maturity must therefore be taken into account in the emergence of nightlife offerings in wine destinations: individual offerings, shared programming, the integrated destination ecosystem, and then its dynamic and personalized marketing.

Our conviction is to extend tourist time rather than the flow of people.

After focusing on enriching and diversifying the offerings, the next lever for developing wine tourism may be less spatial than temporal. In already popular destinations, extending the length of stay can create more value without systematically seeking to increase visitor numbers. But this evolution requires sustainable business models and an organization capable of linking experiences, dining, culture, accommodation, and transportation. A winery can organize an evening event. A restaurant can extend its service. A cultural site can schedule a concert. Only a destination can make all three work together. Creating more value doesn't always mean more offerings or more visitors. It also means better organization of what already exists.

At Calice Hospitality & Wines, we support wineries and destinations in the design, structuring, and marketing of more successful wine tourism ecosystems. Are you looking to rethink your wine tourism strategy at the estate or destination level? Let's talk. www.calicehospitality.com I hello@calicehospitality.com