Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/467731
w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m M a r - A p r 2 015 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 9 9 "We began working with the county tourism office, the cham- ber of commerce and other busi- ness groups in 2003," he said. "We wanted to convince Horizon Air, Alaska's then-independent sister carrier, to begin service here." Plans to promote the route were crucial to courting the airline, so a variety of themes were presented. "Of course, we all recognized that Sonoma is Wine Country," said Stout, "so we focused on how we could highlight that trait. Having wines fly out for free emerged as something unique." The idea was compelling, and H o r i z o n s t a r t e d r u n n i n g t h r e e flights a day from Santa Rosa. When Alaska Airlines later took over Horizon's scheduling and mar- keting, the county business con- sortium convinced the company to continue the promotion. "'Wine Flies Free' became very popular," Stout said. "We regularly saw a dozen cases of wine checked on It's great news for the Sonoma County wine industry. But all those fee-free cases ostensibly represent significant amounts of forgone rev- enue for Alaska Airlines. "That was one of our initial reservations," said Clint Ostler, media and marketing strategy manager at Alaska Airlines, "but not everyone checks wine boxes. It's a small percentage of our overall customer base." He contin- ued, "At the same time, the pro- gram has been very stimulative to regional travel. So it has become a way for us to support the business communities where we operate." In exchange for that support, Alaska asks only that regional orga- nizations include the airline (and no others) in any wine tourism brand messaging. "Yes, we promote the heck out of it," said Tim Zahner, chief mar- keting officer at Sonoma County Tourism. "We include 'Wine Flies Free' in e-mail blasts to 25,000 peo- ple each month, we reference the some flights." Meanwhile, ser- vice from Santa Rosa expanded to seven daily flights to four destina- tions: Seattle, Portland, Los Ange- les and San Diego. Wine must be packaged to courier standards. www.sonomacountyairport.org Wine Flies Free from STS! Fly from Charles M. Schulz - Sonoma County Airport (STS) and check a case of wine, free of charge! Just make sure your Mileage Plan number ŝƐŝŶLJŽƵƌƌĞƐĞƌǀĂƟŽŶĂŶĚLJŽƵƌǁŝŶĞŇŝĞƐĨƌĞĞ͊ Notices posted at the Sonoma County Airport alert passengers to the Wine Flies Free program. Graver Technologies has been designing and producing separation and for more than 100 years. Discover why Graver Technologies is the Clear Choice for beverage manufacturers around the globe. 200 Lake Drive, Glasgow, Delaware 19702 Phone: 302-731-1700 Website: www.gravertech.com E-Mail: info@gravertech.com Discover The Clear Choice Quality | Performance | Value