Research Methods

A key strategy of the WFA is to improve wine tourism research (WFA, 2002).

There is general agreement that wine tourism is under-researched (e.g. WFA, 2002; Beames, 2003), impacting on the knowledge required for business development. Major academic research includes that of Dowling and Carlsen (1998), Getz (2000) and Hall et al. (2000b). Industry and government bodies also conduct or commission research, and a knowledge base is gradually becoming established. Forward-looking research to drive the industry’s decision making is seen as strategically required, and its relevance, accessibility and utility to business operators are crucial.

This study employed face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with wine tourism operators throughout Australia and with other tourism business operators involved in related industry networks. This was done in parallel with interviews of key representatives of state tourism bodies responsible for industry development. South Australia, New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland were chosen as including a range of mature and emerging wine regions.

Interviews, normally lasting about one hour, addressed previously identiﬁed priority areas for SME development (SMIDEC, 1998), including human resource development, access to ﬁnance, access to markets and market development, access to information and technology and technology sharing. Participants were generally owners/operators of wineries. A mini- focus group was used in one case to supplement individual interviews, providing extra depth and richness of understanding:

Opening questions regarding the interviewee, their background and current business built rapport, leading naturally to the speciﬁc areas. These

were covered as they occurred conversationally, with a checklist protocol ensuring completeness. Notes taken were handwritten or tape-recorded by permission. Themes and issues were extracted directly: detailed content analysis and modelling was not considered necessary.

Operators and industry professionals were purposively sampled in each region – aiming for a qualitative overview expressed in participants’ own words, using a convergent interviewing technique (Dick, 1998). Here, the number of interviews is determined when participants consistently give similar responses: normally between four and 16 data sources suffice and, when prior literature is also available, sample size can be smaller (Nair and Riege, 1995). This approach meant that, once redundancy was achieved, further interviewing was considered unproductive. Eleven wine tourism operators were interviewed, and convergence among interview data was often achieved after only a few interviews. Once an issue was validated, the researcher could be confident that it applied beyond a single operator. This allows inductive and deductive research to be combined and refinement of the inquiry as it evolves (Perry and Jensen, 2001).

Findings

For space reasons, only issues relating to knowledge infrastructure are reported. Specific issues relating to branding, finance (e.g. double taxation), lack of relevant research and human resource development were also identified. Some operators considered that more networking and local planning initiatives were required, since some areas were oversupplied with accommodation, and there was a need to co-market attractions with other facilities in the area. One region had 11 wineries near the accommodation supply but no link, nor tourist route designation, was provided.

Australia generally has high technological awareness, and even regionally – where infrastructure is less advanced – most wineries sampled had Internet presence and e-mail. Within this, however, a range of activity was apparent.

Some wineries had their own website with e-commerce functionality, such as online ordering: others outsourced this as part of a cooperative marketing strategy. One winery had a website at their vineyard location (elsewhere), but had no plans to introduce one at the cellar door operation.

Responses on e-commerce, e-readiness and industry linkage and clustering issues were of particular relevance. Some state governments would facilitate, but not operate, educational sessions on e-commerce, delivered by private providers. Such events were difﬁcult to run effectively outside the metropolitan areas in some states due to large distances, and the time and costs involved for potential attendees afﬁrming the ‘digital divide’ as a general issue for a knowledge-based economy’s success.

One state government ofﬁcial believed that ‘mentoring’ talks by leading operators in successful regions worked better than conventional public sector educators. Another thought that tourism extension ofﬁcers, subject to resources, would be useful. One operator said that whilst his group of

62 J.G. Gammack

wineries shared the employment of a winemaker, family members who were

‘paying attention’ were becoming usefully prepared in the absence of a formal qualification. Business and education links specific to wine tourism were being established, with tertiary qualification programmes available in some states.

Wine tourism sustainability is closely aligned to that of the winemaking industry. Bruwer (2002) noted that in Australia ‘51% of all wineries have a production capacity of less than 4000 cases per year while 66% … produce less than 7500 cases per year’. New Australian wineries have emerged rapidly, recently as frequently as one every three days (Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation, ﬁgures cited in Bruwer, 2002). Unless contracted to a big purchaser, this would position a majority of wineries in niche segments, thus favouring direct sales through cellar doors or online. This industry structure differentiates those operators primarily concerned with product from those for whom tourism-associated revenue is a signiﬁcant part of the business mix.

Industry groups had already formed in each state surveyed. One group was just forming at the time of the study, and one new winery in another state was not afﬁliated to any group. In one state with a relatively recent tradition of wine tourism, a group of wineries had formed to share all aspects of their expertise, and saw a critical mass of new ideas beneﬁting all in the region rather than conferring competitive advantage at local level. One emerging area saw itself as essentially primary production, but recognized the need for value-added (service) industries, with the need for attractions beyond wine seen as critical for developing a sustainable regional tourism economy.

Established regions had websites embracing several wineries in their region, some also having their own sites. These portal sites charged memberships but all members beneﬁted from a brand identity. One website (http://www.winediva.com.au) provides a database of Australian wineries and contact details, helping build industry presence and enabling route designations or package designs. The Australian Tourism Data Warehouse also provides extensive listings, though state tourism ofﬁcials noted some uptake issues.

Other linkages were evident in more established regions, addressing wine-associated products, particularly gourmet foods. Such groups recognized complementarity among their products in marketing an experience to the wine tourist. One emerging wine region was in the process of forming an industry group, primarily as an awareness-raising marketing initiative since ‘nobody knew that region had wineries’.

Technologies other than ICTs apply in the sector. Wine production entails relevant environmental technologies that also affect sustainable tourism.

Unrestrained growth in wineries naturally impacts on the land and water, and extra trafﬁc and associated use of amenities impacts on infrastructure capacity. Salinity and wastewater in wine regions are major issues, and education sessions at expositions, plus the trade press, are mechanisms for sharing technological know-how. Currently sustainable and indigenous practices – including permaculture approaches – are considered by some operators to be an important part of sustaining Australia’s environment.

Genetically modiﬁed (GM) products and other practices aimed at global markets were viewed with suspicion, although not ignorance: the wine industry is ofﬁcially opposed to GM use. Local governments also impose environmental requirements through planning approvals and inspections, although, in more than one state, inconsistencies in application were reported. State tourism authorities recognized the need for a coordinating role in, for example, route development, and in ensuring environmental and capacity issues were properly considered at regional levels.

Implications for Wine Tourism

The new economy is characterized by inter-organizational networking and cooperation across sectors, by diffusion of knowledge and learning, and by innovation (not price) as the basis of competitive advantage. The present study revealed various issues pertaining to the sustainable development of wine tourism in Australia, particularly highlighting new economy practices.

Many wine regions are not in the mass tourism business, but regional branding and related destination management become applicable. Operators in emerging regions recognized the comparative value that Margaret River, Barossa and Hunter had established. Following more mature regions, some entrepreneurs had begun to form action sets to promote their emerging regions. Such industry associations will need to move from sector-speciﬁc to cross-industry alliances.

A promotional or marketing relationship through industry group portals was prevalent among wine tourism operators interviewed. For smaller wineries not involved in exporting, this entry-level approach may be appropriate since they will beneﬁt from regional-level branding and promotion.

In emerging wine-tourism areas, industry groups’ aims were modest.

Some other tourism business operators were more proactive in forming industry linkages and arguing for joint promotions. Accommodation providers have much to gain from a short break or other targeted market for winery attractions, and could take a lead in developing destinations. Overall, barriers appeared associated more with a basic need to realize the importance of collaboration in facing global competition, and using and sharing technologies with a view to effective destination promotion and branding.

Increased external focus is aided by Internet presence and computer- supported collaboration. Internet and e-commerce use varied: most wineries have some Internet presence, and some exporters were adopting a staged approach to e-commerce activity (e.g. with online ordering but manual order fulﬁlment).

States found it more effective to facilitate private e-business education providers than to supply it themselves. Effective partnerships in these areas could be further examined. An understanding of the capacity of a region to support tourism may also be better left to a knowledgeable authority than to market forces, with public private partnership models also applicable.

64 J.G. Gammack

The research reported here validates views expressed in trade media by industry ﬁgures and suggests that the increased presence and external focus gained through new economy practices of branding, clustering and e-business adoption is likely to affect the ongoing viability of wineries and associated tourism. The signiﬁcant potential of wine-tourism in Australia, and indeed emerging wine regions elsewhere, will be conditioned by the effectiveness of the partnerships formed by operators for branding, knowledge sharing and sustainable practice.

References

Beames, G. (2003) The Rock, the reef and the grape: the challenges of developing wine tourism in regional Australia. Journal of Vacation Marketing9, 205–212.

Bruwer, J. (2002) Marketing wine to Generation-X consumers through the cellar door. The Australian and New Zealand Grapegrower and Winemaker, December (http://www.grapeandwine.com.au/dec02/

07.htm, accessed June 2005).

Charters, S. and Ali-Knight, J. (2002) Who is the wine tourist? Tourism Management23, 311–319.

Dick, B. (1998) Convergent interviewing: a technique for qualitative data collection (http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arp/

iview.html, accessed June 2005).

Dowling, R. and Carlsen, J. (eds) (1998) Wine Tourism, Perfect Partners: Proceedings of the First Australian Wine Tourism Conference, Margaret River, Western Australia, May 1998, Bureau of Tourism Research, Canberra.

Fraser, C. (2001) Brand Australia. Australian Tourist Commission presentation given at Australian Wine Marketing Conference, Adelaide, July 2001.

Getz, D. (2000) Explore Wine Tourism:

Management, Development and Destinations. Cognizant Communication Corporation, New York.

Hall, C.M. and Johnson, G. (1998) Wine tourism: an imbalanced partnership. In:

Dowling, R. and Carlsen, J. (eds) Wine Tourism, Perfect Partners: Proceedings of the ﬁrst Australian Wine Tourism Conference, Margaret River, Western

Australia, May 1998, Bureau of Tourism Research, Canberra, pp. 51–72.

Hall, C.M., Johnson, G. and Mitchell, R.D.

(2000a) Wine tourism and regional development. In: Hall, C.M., Sharples, E., Cambourne, B. and Macionis, N. (eds) Wine Tourism Around the World:

Development, Management and Markets.

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Hall, C.M., Sharples, E., Cambourne, B. and Macionis, N. (eds) (2000b) Wine Tourism Around the World: Development Management and Markets. Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, UK.

Kennedy, N. and Forman, D. (2003) A New Angle on Regional Infrastructure, Australian Business Foundation Limited, Sydney, Australia (http://www.abfoundation.com.

au/ext/ABFound.nsf/all/917526EDA4C5392 F4A256D4400208FF8/$FILE/Infrastructure +Commentary+Report,+August+2003.pdf, accessed June 2005).

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an Australian/New Zealand case study of cellar door decision making at small and medium-sized wineries. International Council for Small Business Conference Proceedings, Singapore (http://www.sbaer.

uca.edu/Research/1998/ICSB/o002.htm, accessed March 2004).

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perfect partners or dangerous liaisons?

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Australia, Bureau of Tourism Research, Canberra, pp. 35–49.

Marceau, J., Manley, K. and Sicklen, D. (1997) The High Road or the Low Road?

Alternatives for Australia’s Future, Australian Business Foundation Limited, Sydney, Australia.

Nair, G. and Riege, A. (1995) Using convergent interviewing to develop the research problem of a postgraduate thesis. Cited in:

Master, H. and Perry, C. (eds) Product and Promotional Strategy Development in Database Marketing Types, Proceedings of ANZMAC, 1998 (http://smib.vuw.ac.nz:

8081/www.ANZMAC1998/Cd_rom/Master 91.pdf, accessed 13 May 2006).

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the 14th Australasian Conference on Information Systems, Perth, Western Australia, 26–28 November 2003.

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66 J.G. Gammack

6 Emerging Wine Tourism Regions: Lessons for Development

B

EVERLEY

S

PARKS

*

AND

J

ANE

M

ALADY

Services Industry Research Centre, Grifﬁth University, PMB 50 Gold Coast Mail Centre, Queensland 9726, Australia

*E-mail: B.Sparks@grifﬁth.edu.au

Introduction

This chapter describes and analyses two developing wine regions located in Queensland, Australia. A number of key themes emerged from this research.

First, the importance of developing tourism clusters to attract tourists to a region is required. Such strategies rely on collaboration between operators within a compact geographic area that provide products that enhance the overall wine and food experience (Telfer, 2001). Second, there is a need to develop marketing and business skills of operators wanting to enter the tourism business. Third, the development of tourism product relies on those entering the industry to be committed, and thus available at all opening hours on a consistent basis. Fourth, regional champions, leaders and individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit are vital to the development and growth of a regional wine tourism product.

Australia has many wine growing areas and many of these have developed (or are developing) strong tourism product. More recently, many traditional farming or rural areas have sought out tourism for increasing economic development opportunities. Wine and food tourism has played a key role in such developments. The wine industry and wine tourism are emerging industries in Queensland. The Queensland Government Tourism, Fair Trade and Wine Industry Development identiﬁes eight wine tourism regions in Queensland outlining wine grape plantings at the end of 2004 to be as follows:

● The Granite Belt, 790 ha.

● The South Burnett, 420 ha.

● Darling Downs, 120 ha.

● Inglewood and Maranoa, 50 ha.

● Gold Coast Hinterland, Brisbane, Brisbane Valleys and the Scenic Rim, 50 ha.

(eds J. Carlsen and S. Charters) 67

● Central Queensland and North Burnett, 40 ha.

● Sunshine Coast and Hinterland, 20 ha.

● D’Aguilar Ranges and Somerset Valleys, 20 ha.

(Queensland Government Tourism, 2005a). The locations of Queensland’s wine tourism regions are depicted in Fig. 6.1.

This research uses a case study approach to explore the developing wine and food tourism industry in two Queensland regions: the Sunshine Coast and the South Burnett. Both regions are new to the development of a wine industry and, therefore, provide a good setting for an analysis of the emerging wine tourism product. In addition, these two regions provide a contrasting view of different positioning and stages of tourism development within Queensland. The Sunshine Coast region is a well-established tourist destination, with Noosa being widely recognized as a lifestyle destination. It is now seeking to add wine tourism to its more established tourism product.

The South Burnett region, in contrast, is Queensland’s second largest wine producing region (Queensland Department of State Development, 2004), with a well-established agricultural base but with an emerging tourism industry based on its historical perspective and natural attractions. This

68 B. Sparks and J. Malady

Brisbane

1. Brisbane City (not a wine region) 2. Central Queensland and North Burnett 3. D’Aguilar Ranges and Somerset Valleys 4. Darling Downs, Inglewood and Maranoa 5. Gold Coast Hinterland

6. Granite Belt 7. South Burnett

8. Sunshine Coast Hinterland 9. Tropical North Queensland

Fig. 6.1. Queensland wine regions. Source: Wine-region-tours.com (2005).

research seeks to gain a better understanding of the development of the wine and food tourism product, including unique features of the two Queensland regions and challenges faced. In addition, this research focuses on the role played by people (key stakeholders) from the region in the development of wine tourism.

Literature Review

Dowling and Getz (2000, p. 57) suggest that the wine tourism experience is made up not only of the provision of good wine, but also requires ‘quality dining opportunities and other attributes to create a unique experience and ambience’ and note that Australians value the ‘preservation of architecture and heritage as part of the wine country product’. Signiﬁcantly, Hall et al.

(2000) suggest that the development of networks is critical to the development of wine tourism in a region as there is a need for businesses that previously have not identiﬁed themselves as being part of the same industry to work collaboratively with stakeholders in the tourism industry.

Dodd and Beverland (2001) note that in the life-cycle development of wine tourism regions, as the region grows the establishment of networks between wineries and other tourism-related business becomes more prevalent to assist in the marketing and promotion of the region. In addition, Hall (2003) argues that the roles of ‘champions’ and local government are important in the development of wine and food networks. Dowling and Getz (2000, p. 58) state that ‘leadership is an important issue and may come from wineries, industry associations or government agencies’. An important dimension of wine and food tourism for regional communities often extends beyond the pure ﬁnancial aspect into a community pride and sense of local identity and culture (Hall, 2003).

Research Method

This study adopted an instrumental case study approach (Stake, 2000) to examine regional development of wine- and food-based tourism. An instrumental case study approach assumes an interest in providing insight to a general issue, such as, in this instance, the development of regional tourism.

This case analysis is based on three sources of data: archival statistical data, ﬁeld visits and in-depth interviews conducted with key stakeholders and leaders within each region. Sites visited and stakeholders selected were based on perceived prominence within the regions’ tourism industry as identiﬁed from regional tourism association websites, promotional material analysed and initial discussion with stakeholders from regional tourism associations and the tourism industry.

The case studies included information on the regions’ wine and food tourism attractions; the infrastructure, in particular accommodation and restaurants; marketing of the region; regional wine and food development

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