Guided visits to vineyards and wineries sprouting up on Lake Chapala’s south shore could be the next great tourist attraction for the region, according to Xavier Orendáin de Obeso, Jalisco’s coordinator of Economic Growth and Economic Development.
Following a meeting with entrepreneurs in Ajijic on Saturday, December 11, Orendáin and Jalisco Tourism Secretary Claudia Vanessa Pérez Lamas led a boating party across the lake to San Luis Soyatlán to tour two budding oenological destinations.
Viñedos El Tejón is a vineyard where varieties of grapes are grown for producing organic wines, combined with a dining spot to sample wine and gourmet foods. Nearby is the Cava Chalupo winery, where white, rosé, sparkling and red wines are produced.
Oredáin expressed his interest in collaborating with these outfits to generate common strategies. “Opening new opportunities for development is what moves us, and I make a toast to that commitment, that we may return soon and see that things get done,” he said.
For her part, the tourism chief mentioned the importance of Jalisco’s many well-developed tourist attractions and, in the specific case of the Ribera de Chapala, an orderly and sustainable tourism development blueprint. Training and professionalization of the service providers are key to that end, she noted.