Education delivers results in north-east Asia

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The winners of the second Wine Australia Travel Scholarship in association with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust have been announced.

This year, two winners from China – Miss Mei Hong from Shanghai and Mr Chunke (Leo) Liu from Beijing will join Miss Suzie Chung from Seoul to each be awarded the Scholarship, which is available to eligible students in mainland China, Macau and South Korea.

The Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation (AWBC) has partnered with the world's foremost supplier of wine education and training courses, the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), to offer students who have completed an accredited wine course the chance to spend two weeks in Australia.

The scholarship winners will spend their first week visiting key wine regions and wineries across Australia. The students will then have an opportunity to gain a unique insight into the Australian wine industry completing a one week work placement with a peak industry organisation or company.

"Across the north-east Asia region we are committed to partnering with education providers and offering unique educational experiences in Australia. It is one of the best ways to influence the market opportunity for all Australian wines," said Ali Hogarth, regional manager with the AWBC.

"The winners of the first scholarship from China, South Korea and Hong Kong have returned home completely changed by their experience. One of the past winners is now in the process of starting up an importing agency in Seoul focussing on Australian wines. The Scholarship has also provided last year's China recipient with an increase in her profile and she now contributes to the leading wine publication in China. The number of Australian wine listings in the Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong has also been boosted as a direct result of the third winner's renewed enthusiasm for Australia's fine wines," she said.

Coverage of last year's winners was significant, particularly in China and Hong Kong and applications for this year were of a particularly high standard. This initiative identifies future ambassadors for Australian wine as part of Wine Australia's focus on wine and trade education in these markets.