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Wine tourism - a special sort of experience which is created differently and lasts longer than others

Wine tourism - a special sort of experience which is created differently and lasts longer than others
Author: Wolk Andrzej
5 Commentries
Wine tourism offers an unusual experience as the wine itself is a factor which, playing a major role and engaging the sense of taste, smell and sight, engages a tourist entirely. Wine tourism is a perfect example of a tourism which engages all the senses, and, in addition, not only in one place at one time, but providing a longer process on and off the site. 'Wine is not only a beverage. It has become a lifestyle product and it has a high degree of complementarity with food, hospitality, entertainment, the arts and tourism (Winemakers' Federation of Australia, 1996). Being a relatively young form of tourism, the wine tourism seems to differ from other, more usual ways of perceiving the industry. The reason why it differs is that the whole sector is created around the central factor, which in this case is the interest in wine itself. The experience of the wine tourist turns out to be created in a different way compared to a standard visit to a tourist destination. There is more to wine and wine tourism than the simple consumption of a beverage and the experience is not limited to the senses and emotions associated with the wine alone (Hall et al., 2002) It is not associated only with the site which is visited, neither. What is more, the whole experience seems to be something larger and less tangible. Some wine lovers say that 'every time we pull the cork from the bottle we are all wine tourists'. (Hall et al., 2002) Thus possibly the wine tourism experience does not start at the winery, and does not end at the moment of leaving it, but lasts much longer than that? Wine tourism experience is created by several factors and as it can be pointed out, it is highly dependent not only on what occurs on-site but also on the experiences off-site.

As for creating this experience, the tourist's profile, lifestyle, preferences, motivations and also background are important as the determinants. All the wine tourists with different psychographic profiles will also have different motivations and, therefore, different experiences. Visitors to wineries and wine regions differ in their interest and their expertise on wine (Hall et al., 2002) A knowledgeable wine lover for instance, will arrive at the site prepared and a purpose of his visit will probably be also educational, not only recreational, as it will be with regards to a person who simply treats wine tourism as an escape from busy city life.

In order to depict the whole process of experiencing wine tourism, a model proposed by Mitchell (Hall et al., 2002) can be applied. This model takes into consideration the important elements like setting, stage of travel and activity of tourism. These three elements shape the overall wine tourism experience. The experience itself can be divided into pre-visit experience (for instance sampling particular wine or grape variety at home before visiting particular site, studying about wine, or watching a TV program about it), wine on site (learning about wine at cellar) and wine after the visit ( for example at home recalling the winery and drinking the wine purchased there).

Accordingly, the overall understanding is not limited to a particular site or attraction and several elements of the wider perception of a region will impact on the on-site experience (Johnson, 1998). It is particularly pertinent to the wine tourism. 'Wine itself is a tangible, transportable and durable product which can be experienced in a number of locations before, during and after the on-site winery experience (Hall et al., 2002) even though, undoubtedly, a significant part of wine tourism occurs in winescape. For that reason, the overall experience is the sum of the elements mentioned above. One sole element does not decide about the winery experience. (Hall et al., 2002)

Last but not least, it has to point out how important it is to anyone having at least a small interest in wine, while buying or drinking wine, to know its origin. It only proves the theory that wine itself is a very important part which highly influences our overall wine tourism experience.

What do you think fellow students? Is wine a normal product and thus its attributes do not really matter or is it decisive regarding the wine tourism experience? Or conversely - is it a factor which entirely changes the way the wine tourism experience is created and the way it lasts?


References

Hall, M., Sharples, L., Cambourne, B. and Macionis, N. (2002). Wine Tourism Around the World. 2nd ed. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.

Johnson, G. (1998). Wine Tourism in New Zealand - a national survey of wineries, unpublished Dip. Tour. Dissertation. University of Otago.

Winemakers' Federation of Australia (1996), Strategy 2025. Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Journal. 11(3).

Wine tourism- not only positive aspects
Author: Katherine Knoff
I choose to comment on this paper as it is in my strand and it focuses on niche- tourism as my paper did as well. Furthermore, the topic is interesting and the developing market for wine tourism is worth researching as it has potential to succeed in the tourism industry.

It is said that wine tourism is a niche market in relation to the tourism industry and it has a developing market as it reflects on a major, late-twentieth-century mega-force, this is because there is a global competition for leading destinations and the tourism industry to seek advantages trough niche-marketing.

Dowling et.al. 1999 defines wine tourism as: “Wine tourism is travel for experience of wineries and wine regions and their links to local lifestyle and encompasses service provision and destination marketing”

The characteristics of wine tourism has different approaches such as; Wine may be one of many attractions of a region, it should form part of the national and international tourism image of the region. The last point makes me thinking that it may be difficult in cold countries which does not have a potential for wine tourism or countries with religious aspects that does not support drinking alcohol.
Another characteristic that is mentioned by Dowling, (1999) is that it has educational component. This is a very interesting subject as it can create business visitors as well as leisure tourists. It is important for professional managers and restaurant industry to have knowledge about the wine that is provided in the hospitality industry.

You make a point with the tourists that claim that; ‘every time we pull the cork from the bottle we are all wine tourists’, (Hall et al., 2002). I feel that this is slightly incorrect as wine tourists must have a genuine interest for wine and the tourist also seeks experiences with visiting wineries and regions (Carlsen & Charters, 2006).

I think that wine tourism has potential and as you mention knowledge and interest in wine is a factor as the tourist may read and study about the wine before they go on holiday.

Moreover there are also implications with wine tourism that I think is reasonable to mention here, if I should be critical to the subject.
As the interest for wine tourism grows rapidly, there is also challenges facing the industry such as; health, environment and planning policies.
Regarding to health issues, wine has been seen as a good thing for our health, but there is always concerns about the alcohol consumption.
Moving over to the environmental issues, there is need for resources at the destination such as land for grapes, water, community support and cultural authenticity, (Carlsen & Charters, 2006).


References:

Carlsen, J. and Charters, S. (2006) Global wine tourism, research, management and marketing. Wallingford: CABI

Faulkner et. al.(2000) Tourism in the 21st century. London: Contiuum

Hall, M., Sharples, L., Cambourne, B. and Macionis, N. (2002). Wine Tourism around the World. 2nd ed. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann
Wine is not only a beverage.
Author: Melissa Butler
I have chosen to comment on this paper due to a personal interest in the topic and in addition it is also within the same strand as my post. To my knowledge, wine and tourism were at different ends of the industrial spectrum and it never occurred to me that this form of tourism is in fact becoming a niche area of tourism. Novelli, M (2005) states that wine has increasingly become a focal point for travel decision making and the hallmark attraction of a number of destinations around the world. Novelli adds to this by defining wine tourism as visitation to vineyards, wineries, wine festivals and wine shows for which grape wine tasting and/or experiencing the attributes of a grape wine region are the prime motivating factors for visitors.

This paper makes a comment that "Wine is not only a beverage. It has become a lifestyle product and it has a high degree of complementarily with food, hospitality, entertainment, the arts and tourism" (Winemakers' Federation of Australia, 1996), which I think is a good, vital comment because in reality it is stating that wine has become more than just something to drink since the particular area of tourism has become increasingly more popular. Hall et al, (2002) adds to this dispute by stating that there is more to wine and wine tourism than the simple consumption of a beverage and the experience is not limited to the senses and emotions associated with the wine alone.

However, this paper makes an indication that 'every time we pull the cork from the bottle we are all wine tourists' (Hall et al, 2002). From a personal view I consider this statement as potentially incorrect as I believe wine tourists must initially have some sort of interest in wine to begin with. Furthermore, research shows that wine tourism, as like many other industries is consistently being marketed; however it could be argued that a product like wine with an increasingly high involvement rate could potentially be damaging as regards to health risks.

Moreover, you state in the paper that "a knowledgeable wine lover for instance, will arrive at the site prepared and a purpose of his visit will probably be also educational, not only recreational, as it will be with regards to a person who simply treats wine tourism as an escape from busy city life". I agree with this statement and think it was important you included this in your paper to differentiate the types of tourists who enjoy wine tourism activities. For example, on one end of the scale there may be a tourist who thrives for wine tourism and is in fact a regular wine tourist to either one particular wine region or a variety of regions, however at the other end of the scale, there may be a tourist who enjoys a glass of wine but just wants to escape from what is perceived as the norm.


References used:

Hall, M. Sharples, L. Cambourne, B. and Macionis, N. (2002). Wine Tourism around the World. 2nd ed. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann publishing

Novelli, M. (2005). Niche Tourism: contemporary issues, trends and cases. Butterworth-Heinemann publishing

Winemakers' Federation of Australia (1996). Strategy 2025. Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Journal. 11(3)
Wine and Tourism- Why not ! It can be a good experience.
Author: Fatosh Fatma Tozaki
I have decided to comment on your paper. The reason is, there are so many sorts of wine. And still I have unfortunately no idea about wine. It is also within the same strand as my post. On the other hand, Novelli (2005) states that wine has increasingly become a key point for travel decision making and the brand attraction of a number of destinations around the world.

There are a multitude of different definitions for wine tourism, but one of the most comprehensive has been set forth by Australian researchers Hall and Macionis. They define wine tourism as "visitation to vineyards, wineries, wine festivals, and wine shows for which grape wine tasting and/or experiencing the attributes of a grape wine region are the prime motivating factors for visitors." This definition is useful because it encompasses the various venues most frequently sought by wine tourists, and highlights the fact that there are different reasons visitors go to a wine region.
I agree with you that "as for creating this experience, the tourist's profile, lifestyle, preferences, motivations and also background are important as the determinants. All the wine tourists with different psychographic profiles will also have different motivations and, therefore, different experience". While, different cultures have different traditions and different taste. A review by Macionis (2004) describes that "Tourism motivation can be defined as "a meaningful state of mind which adequately disposes an individual to travel, and which is subsequently interpretable by others as a valid explanation for such a decision.
You paper made me really think about wine tourism which I have never thought about, and it sounds more interesting that I thought. "How important it is to anyone having at least a small interest in wine, while buying or drinking wine, to know its origin. It only proves the theory that wine itself is a very important part which highly influences our overall wine tourism experience", I agree with you, however I would say that I have felt like travelling to the destination where it is possible to experience wine resources. As you mentioned in your paper "a knowledgeable wine lover for instance, will arrive at the site prepared and a purpose of his visit will probably be also educational, not only recreational, as it will be with regards to a person who simply treats wine tourism as an escape from busy city life", I agree but I would not agree only with wine lover part, however wine tourism sounds exotic that adventurous travellers can be attracted as well. Frochot notes that "while wine is a strong destinational benefit in France, other destination attributes such as heritage and culture dominate tourist motivation. Wine can be offered as component in a packaged tour, and it can be linked with historical components of a region.

To conclude, I really enjoyed reading your paper and made me research for it. Enjoy your glass of wine.


References

Hall, M., Sharples, L., Cambourne, B. and Macionis, N. (2002). Wine Tourism Around the World. 2nd ed. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.

Novelli, M. (2005). Niche Tourism: contemporary issues, trends and cases. Butterworth-Heinemann
Wine and Tourism- Why not ! It can be a good experience.
Author: Fatosh Fatma Tozaki
I have decided to comment on your paper. The reason is, there are so many sorts of wine. And still I have unfortunately no idea about wine. It is also within the same strand as my post. On the other hand, Novelli (2005) states that wine has increasingly become a key point for travel decision making and the brand attraction of a number of destinations around the world.

There are a multitude of different definitions for wine tourism, but one of the most comprehensive has been set forth by Australian researchers Hall and Macionis. They define wine tourism as "visitation to vineyards, wineries, wine festivals, and wine shows for which grape wine tasting and/or experiencing the attributes of a grape wine region are the prime motivating factors for visitors." This definition is useful because it encompasses the various venues most frequently sought by wine tourists, and highlights the fact that there are different reasons visitors go to a wine region.
I agree with you that "as for creating this experience, the tourist's profile, lifestyle, preferences, motivations and also background are important as the determinants. All the wine tourists with different psychographic profiles will also have different motivations and, therefore, different experience". While, different cultures have different traditions and different taste. A review by Macionis (2004) describes that "Tourism motivation can be defined as "a meaningful state of mind which adequately disposes an individual to travel, and which is subsequently interpretable by others as a valid explanation for such a decision.
You paper made me really think about wine tourism which I have never thought about, and it sounds more interesting that I thought. "How important it is to anyone having at least a small interest in wine, while buying or drinking wine, to know its origin. It only proves the theory that wine itself is a very important part which highly influences our overall wine tourism experience", I agree with you, however I would say that I have felt like travelling to the destination where it is possible to experience wine resources. As you mentioned in your paper "a knowledgeable wine lover for instance, will arrive at the site prepared and a purpose of his visit will probably be also educational, not only recreational, as it will be with regards to a person who simply treats wine tourism as an escape from busy city life", I agree but I would not agree only with wine lover part, however wine tourism sounds exotic that adventurous travellers can be attracted as well. Frochot notes that "while wine is a strong destinational benefit in France, other destination attributes such as heritage and culture dominate tourist motivation. Wine can be offered as component in a packaged tour, and it can be linked with historical components of a region.

To conclude, I really enjoyed reading your paper and made me research for it. Enjoy your glass of wine.


References

Hall, M., Sharples, L., Cambourne, B. and Macionis, N. (2002). Wine Tourism Around the World. 2nd ed. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.

Novelli, M. (2005). Niche Tourism: contemporary issues, trends and cases. Butterworth-Heinemann
Grape Grail or wine tourism
Author: Joanna Slomiak
Conducting my research on slow tourism, many times I came across the notion of wine tourism as one of the forms favouring the value of one's experience. The paper itself is really interesting to read, pointing out the significant issues of wine tourism and, what is more, placing rhetorical questions it involves reader to reflect a while; is a wine only a beverage or is it something else?

The wine itself has been associating with tranquillity, social encounters and food ingestion (Shor et al.), therefore again it makes connection with slow tourism in face of Slow Food movement. Focusing on the beverage there have been some good points made in the discussion paper, starting from wine being a lifestyle product and a vital factor around which the whole universe of wine tourism centres round. Following by the statement that is does not concentrate on consumption neither on a destination as it is to happen on-site and off-site. At this point however, we ought to distinguish two things: wine tourism and wine consumption. The link between wine and wine tourism derives from the nature of wine itself, consequently it is true that the experience starts when the 'cork is pulled' (Hall et al. 2002) and there is a visible relation with gastronomic tourism in which both, food and drink, become tangible products (Getz, 2000). Nonetheless, we cannot easily limit wine only to the sensual experience, what is another good point made in the paper.

Next part of discussion identifies tourist types and motivations. My prior argument was that being a wine tourist means to be cultured, mature and rather wealthy (Getz, 2000) however your reasoning for other type, such as person diversifying its day-to-day life seems convincing and sound. Moreover, the Mitchell's model which have been applied is very accurate and proves good research on the topic has been done.

To sum up, I would like to think that it is not that a niche, because subsequently almost everything different from mass tourism could be covered by a niche market. I would rather say it is an alternative like slow tourism is, a 'niche' to enjoy more consciously our lives, as well as it is more about the whole lifestyle than a single experience.

References used:
Hall, M., Sharples, L., Cambourne, B. and Macionis, N. (2002). Wine Tourism Around the World. 2nd ed. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.
Getz, D. (2000). Explore Wine Tourism: Management, Development & Destinations. USA: Cognizant Communication Corporation.
Shor, N. and Mansfeld Y. (2009) Tourism, Consumer and spatial behaviour of Israeli wine tourists, Vol. 57 (4), pp. 381-403
[online resource] Accessed on < web.ebscohost.com> [6th May, 2010]