Potential of Vineyard Landscapes for Sustainable Tourism

Abstract

According to the World Tourism Organization, sustainable tourism fosters the conservation of natural resources, respects the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities and ensures the maintenance of economic activities in the long term. With reference to these three areas, this article examines how vineyard landscapes, seen as one of the many resources of wine tourism, represent a potential for promoting forms of sustainable tourism, which be understood as tourism that assumes a balance between the environmental, economic and social determining factors behind a region. For this purpose, different theoretical and thematic approaches are used to highlight the importance of key issues, such as the status of the vineyard landscape as part of the conservation of natural resources in general and the elements linked to tangible and intangible heritage as part of the social authenticity of these landscapes. The results show how the strong cultural nature of vineyard landscapes, which are rich in heritage and aesthetics, guarantees their sustainability for tourist activity, provided that appropriate planning criteria are used.

Keywords

• vineyard landscapes
• wine tourism
• sustainable tourism
• agrarian heritage
• cultural ecosystem services