Profiling wine tourists: a comparison between rural and city Wine Festivals in Campania, Italy.

Abstract

Wine tourism (oenotourism) is becoming progressively important for wine producers and it is beginning to contribute billions of dollars annually to the global economy. Wine tourism is thus growing in relevance in the international scenario and it is considered to be at least one of the most important emerging segments of the global tourism sector. This opens a series of questions related to a better understanding of its tourism demand. The close connection between a knowledge of wine tourists’ profiles and the role of a wine festival are the strategic factors examined in this study. The research was based 220 interviews conducted with wine tourists attending the most representative rural and city wine festivals held in the Italian region of Campania (Avellino–Salerno). The aim of the paper was to perform a comparative analysis of the wine tourists’ profiles in relation to the different kind of events attended, in order to stimulate a fitted customer-driven strategy addressed to wine tourism stakeholders and to thus promote sustainability in this important sector.

Keywords

• wine tourism
• wine festival
• wine tourist profile
• Campania
• tourist segmentation
• oenotourism