The overriding land use challenge for proponents of wine tourism is to avoid the headlong development of amenities to the detriment of idyllic winescapes and the agricultural capacity of the land, whilst creating policies that encourage local operators to develop their wine tourism opportunities (Hall et al., 2000; Skinner, 2000). A balanced and sensitively applied policy regime helps meet this challenge. In all of the case study areas, efforts are underway
to create more integrated wine tourism development approaches. In some cases, these initiatives have strong land use management elements. In other instances, the focus is on market and product development opportunities.
In Oregon, winery stakeholders and local governments have recently agreed on policies that allow more flexibility with respect to accommodation and special events on agricultural land. In Washington, more strategic approaches to wine tourism development based on lessons learned from Californian destinations are developing to guide policies in emerging wine regions. In BC, the RDCO is developing a multi-stakeholder-based agricultural plan that will provide a common vision and clear guidelines for the use of agricultural lands (including those associated with wine tourism).
In all of these cases, it is important to balance policies that support agricultural land conservation with those that meet the needs of winery, tourism and local community stakeholders. Weak polices that encourage a
‘creeping incrementalism’ in wine tourism land use development must be avoided if the core viticulture and aesthetic assets of regions are to be sustained. Similar to the challenge for the vintner of balancing flavours to produce a fine wine, there is a need to create equilibrium between the benefits of economic development and environmental protection in order to produce sustainable wine tourism.
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46 P.W. Williams et al.
4 Enhancing the Wine Tourism Experience: the Customers’
Viewpoint
L
INDAR
OBERTS1*
ANDB
EVERLEYS
PARKS21School of Hospitality, Tourism and Marketing, Victoria University, Victoria, Australia;2Services Industry Research Centre, Griffith University, PMB 50 Gold Coast Mail Centre, Queensland, Australia
*E-mail: [email protected]
Introduction
The research reported in this chapter is part of a wider Sustainable Tourism CRC study entitled Good Living Tourism. Good Living Tourism incorporates the essential features of wine tourism as a total experience, not only emphasizing wine but also food and other lifestyle components. The research question under investigation for the part of the study reported here was to develop a greater understanding of the factors that are important or enhance the experiences of tourists visiting wine regions.
Literature Review
Tourism offers wine growers, and the associated region where the vineyards are located, an opportunity for financial development. As wine tourism evolves there is a need to better understand the consumers who travel to these regions, as well as the factors that enhance their overall experiences. Hall and his colleagues (2000) have argued that visitation to a wine region is frequently motivated by ‘grape wine’ specifically or ‘the attributes of a grape wine region’ referred to as the winescape. These winescapes are characterized by three main elements: the presence of vineyards, the wine-making activity and the wineries where the wine is produced and stored (Telfer, 2000).
Getz (1998) also argues that attributes of a wine region, such as the scenery and open spaces, also provide an incentive to visit the region. It has been argued (Beames, 2003) that an important challenge facing regions is to be able to create a total experience for tourists rather than merely the opening of cellar doors. Thus, a deeper understanding of the consumer is required.
Recent attempts to define wine tourism in broader terms have been made, and Charters and Ali-Knight (2002) have noted the characteristics that have
© CAB International 2006. Global Wine Tourism: Research, Management and Marketing
(eds J. Carlsen and S. Charters) 47
been incorporated, including ‘lifestyle experience, supply and demand, an educational component, linkages to art, wine and food, incorporation with the destination image and as a marketing opportunity which enhances the economic, social and cultural values of the region’. Indeed, a number of these characteristics also emerge in Beverland’s (2005) definition of authenticity in the context of luxury wines as:
… a story that balances industrial (production, distribution and marketing) and rhetorical attributes to project sincerity through the avowal of commitments to traditions (including production methods, product styling, firm values, and/or location), passion for craft and production excellence, and the public disavowal of the role of modern industrial attributes and commercial motivations.
Furthermore, O’Neill and Charters (2000) considered quality service at the cellar door as another crucial aspect of wine tourism and noted that it may be ‘a vital antecedent to any purchase being made’. However, despite the growing interest in the area of wine (and food) tourism, relatively little research into consumer perceptions and motivations has been undertaken.
This research focuses upon what types of experiences enhance a consumer’s overall evaluation of a visit to a wine region.
Research Method
Since there has been little research conducted into consumer perceptions and motivations when visiting a wine region regarding the total experience, a qualitative approach was used to develop a greater understanding of what aspects of wine tourism enhanced the experiences that people have undertaken. Focus groups were conducted with people who visited wine regions and who considered themselves to be lovers of wine and food in order to discuss what they were looking for in terms of the total experience of the visit.
Selection of participants
A purposive approach was taken to recruit participants who considered themselves to be ‘lovers of wine and food’. A total of nine focus groups were conducted: four in Victoria, three in Queensland and two in South Australia.
For four of the focus groups, participants were recruited through local wine or food clubs in the three states, while for the other five focus groups participants were recruited from both general and academic staff via the university email systems at the three participating universities, Victoria University in Victoria, Griffith University in Queensland and the University of South Australia.
In total there were 78 participants: 37 in the four focus groups held in Victoria, 25 in the three focus groups held in Queensland and 16 in the two focus groups held in South Australia. A mix of both males and females from within the broad age range of 18–65 years was involved.
48 L. Roberts and B. Sparks
Procedure
The focus groups were conducted in a relaxed environment with refreshments provided before the focus groups started, to enable participants to meet each other informally. Each focus group lasted for one hour and proceedings were tape-recorded. Recordings were transcribed and notes were also taken by a person other than the moderator to ensure that a complete record would be available for analysis.
A semi-structured approach was adopted, with questions relating to the participants’ interest in wine and food tourism, the kinds of people they perceived to be interested in it and to what attracts people to a wine and food region. There was then discussion on the types of experiences that were sought by the participants when visiting a wine and food region and what they associated with ‘good living’ tourism. Subsequent discussion centred on products for sale in a wine and food region, the attractions visited and what was learned during the visit.