WINE TOURISM IN ARGENTINA 463 Lands (South Africa), Lausanne (Switzerland), Mainz (Germany), Oporto (Portugal), San Francisco/Napa Valley (United States) and Verona (Italy). Visits to wineries, olive growing farms, museums, markets and other places are part of the different tourist programs supplemented with some of Mendoza’s other identifying features – exceptional products such as olive oil, dried fruits, apricots and quinces are included in the Province’s touristic offer linked to wine, gastronomy and overall culture, giving special importance to smaller manufacturers and Tourist Service Providers. V. THE POST-PANDEMIC ERA: WHAT CAN BE EXPECTED FROM THE WINE TOURISM? Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has diminished the Argentine tourism sector, with very considerable drops in income and a severe impact on job losses29, since travel restrictions continue to affect its recovery30, it is worth pointing out that, during the January to November 2020 period, Argentine wine exports have increased 34.1% in comparison with the same time in 201931. Although the request for travel is still very tenuous, despite the aid schedules, since Law of Sustainability and Reactivation No. 27.563 – approved by the Argentine National Congress (which began on 21 September 2020) for the postpandemic era –, there are protocols issued by the Cámara Empresaria Bodegas de Argentina (Argentine Chamber of Wineries) that gather together the main small- and medium-sized wineries, having been inspired by the protocols of the Federación Española de Vino (Spanish Wine Federation)32. The “Careful Wine Tourism” concept has also been updated with measures that can be taken in the future in order to preserve, first and foremost, people’s health and life, while being able to communicate to future visitors the winery’s co-responsibility in caring for it customers, both them and their relationships, and employees. The same has happened at the Great Wine Capitals33, which has proposed standardised international protocols for wine tourism to reopen 29 See Ernst, C. & Mourelo, E. L., La COVID-19 y el mundo del trabajo en Argentina: impacto y respuestas de política. International Labour Organization (ILO), available in: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/publi c/---americas/---ro-lima/---ilo-buenos_aires/documents/publication/wcms_740742.pdf. 30 Source: http://www.camaradeturismo.org.ar/section/noticias/el-turismo-retrocede-a-niveles-de-1990con-una-caida-en-llegadas-de-mas-del-70. 31 Source: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/las-exportaciones-de-vinos-argentinos-consolidan-sucrecimiento-en-2020. 32 Source: https://www.bodegasdeargentina.org/protocoloenoturismocovid/. 33 Source: http://enolife.com.ar/es/proponen-un-protocolo-global-unificado-para-que-el-enoturismoreabra-rapido-tras-la-cuarentena/.
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