Uncorking Wine Tourism : Prospects of regional tourism sustainability in Spain

Abstract: Wine tourism is a growing phenomenon that allows winemakers to create another product beyond their main one, that of wine. By creating an attraction, vineyards are opening another market for themselves that in many cases can create a bigger awareness for their wine. The focus of this study is to research the phenomenon that is called wine tourism and how it correlates with local businesses. This study looks at how various wine regions in Spain work in regards to attracting and maintaining customers to their businesses. Which vineyards gained on co-operation between various producers to generate a greater tourism attraction and which had no significant effect on the destination at all. This study presents motivations for choosing a specific wine region and how information was distributed. By looking at statistics from each region and comparing those to the success of the wine tourism business, an understanding of effects on the regional sustainability is presented. With this, the potential for regional sustainability through wine tourism can be made. However, further study needs to be conducted on a more centralized level within each region to determine which factors that are contributing to this.