Wine tourism: wine and wine tourism experience. new tools for its characterisation and measurement in Porto and Madeira wine

Abstract

This study, conducted using a compendium of published papers corresponding to chapters, aims to contribute to the development of the concept of wine tourist behaviour in the wine tourism area, specifically in the wine and wine tourism experience, by bringing new discussion and empirical evidence. For this, a literature review and content analysis of the main constructs and dimensions, along with an analysis of their combined interaction, was conducted in order to support and perform a segmentation of wine tourists and the development of a scale. This research was undertaken in the framework of wine tourism, mostly related to wine tourist profiling and the wine experience of tourists in the Porto and Madeira wine cellars, respectively. Methodologically, the first chapter is a general review study in which a literature review and content analysis for wine tourism in Portugal is carried out, allowing a better identification of the main challenges, trends and opportunities. The second chapter consists of new evidence of segmentation based on wine product involvement (Porto wine product), focused on the profiling of wine tourists in Porto wine cellars, and the three clusters with high, medium and low wine product involvement levels in particular. For the third chapter, a theoretical and conceptual review is used, within the wine and wine tourism experience, leading the way for the development wine experience in the context of wine tourism activity. In the fourth chapter, a quantitative research is used to measure the holistic behaviour of wine tourists. The wine experience scale was developed using SEM-AMOS software, allowing the validation of this new measurement scale, comprising four major dimensions: wine storytelling, wine tasting excitement, wine involvement, and winescape, tested in Porto and Madeira wine cellars. In the first chapter (scientific paper 1), the findings provided support for the boundaries to identify the main challenges, trends and opportunities in the field of wine tourism in Portugal. The literature review and content analysis produced insights based on benchmarks for the wine tourism industry, and key points that formed the basis of a strategic agenda for future action. In the second chapter (scientific paper 2), the findings sustained the special interest in wine tourist profiling in the Porto wine cellars, and segmentation was stated based on wine product involvement in a set of three clusters – high, medium and low wine product involvement levels, where the main constructs related to wine tourist profile and segmentation as well as wine product involvement based on segmentation are interlinked. In the third chapter (scientific paper 3), the theoretical and conceptual review of wine and wine tourism highlighted the current state of the art with an in-depth literature review. This research found that the experience focused on wine and wine tourism requires further exploration and research. Directions and approaches are proposed, demonstrating the need to develop a measurement scale for wine experience in the context of wine tourism activity during the visits. In the fourth chapter (scientific paper 4), a scale was developed and validated, using structural equation modelling (SEM-AMOS), to measure the wine experience of wine tourists, and it was tested in Porto and Madeira wine cellars, revealing the holistic behaviour of wine tourists. Four major underlying wine experience dimensions of local food consumption were labelled: wine storytelling, wine tasting excitement, wine involvement, and winescape. The outcomes and applications of the newly developed scale were addressed and discussed both in terms of theoretical scientific research and managerial implications. The study has methodological research contributions for the scientific community, and direct implications for Porto and Madeira wine cellars. The results led to final conclusions, practical implications for management, and suggestions for future research.