Enjoy 60 days of wine tasting at Heathrow Airport

In a bid to promote New York State’s excellent wine regions such as the Fingerlakes, Long Island and the Hudson Valley, and create awareness for all that is on offer ‘beyond the Big Apple, New York State Division of Tourism has teamed up with Virgin Atlantic and will be offering 60 days of New York State wine tasting at Heathrow Airport.

From 22nd June 2008, running for a period of two months, all Upper Class passengers passing through the Virgin Clubhouse at Heathrow will be given the opportunity to taste some of New York’s finest wines. Prior to the promotion, Virgin Atlantic’s bar team who are trained mixologists will spend 4 days tasting and selecting wines which they think are most suitable.

Lyndsey Sugden, Marketing & PR, New York State Division of State Division of Tourism says “The Virgin Clubhouse is generally regarded at the best in the world with over 1,000 passengers passing through it every day. This is an excellent opportunity to create an association between the very well respected Virgin Brand and New York State, and also make travellers between London and New York aware of some of the superb wines and wine related opportunities available in the State of New York.

“After California, New York State is the second largest wine producing state in North America and with the popularity of wine tourism growing; this is the obvious market to tap into to create much needed awareness in the UK for New York State and encourage visitors to New York City to change a short city break into much more.”

Promotional support to back up the campaign will include promotional items in the Clubhouse and ILoveNY’s latest ad campaign featuring King Kong, which will be presented around Sir Richard Branson’s televised in-flight piece. An onboard print campaign will also run throughout July and August which will promote all that is on offer in New York State, heavily focusing on the State’s natural side.

New York State is one of America’s largest wine producing regions with over 240 wineries producing award-winning wines. Visitors to New York have a wide choice of wineries to visit with most open to the public for tours and tasting. Wineries across the state have also proved a major draw with tourists, receiving more than 3 million visitors annually.