WINE TOURISM

Wine Tourism

Wine Tourism

As the world evolves and undergoes changes in different sectors of the economy, the tourism sector has not been left behind. This has paved way for the emergence of special interest tourism (SIT). According to Ritchie, Carr and Cooper (2003, p.28), SIT has been defined as a specialized tourism which involves individual or group tours carried out by people with specific interest on a particular place and sites with the aim of developing certain interests. People with same hobby usually attend to SIT. The terms special interests indicates the development and planning done to travel or tour a certain destination. Ritchie, Carr and Cooper (2003, p.28) describe it as a serious leisure which seeks to attain permanent benefits like sense of belonging, social interaction, self-expression, recreation, self-enrichment, and self-actualisation. One major type of the SIT is wine tourism which fits the definition as it offers special interests. Wine acts as the catalyst of wine tourism although there is more to wine tourism than the product. The sections that follow will explore the general management issues facing all SIT operators such as the Arblaster & Clarke Wine Tours. The study will further explore the specific product issues facing Arblaster & Clarke Wine Tours. And lastly, contact will be made with the SIT operator and determine how they have identified with questions one and two and how they have handled the problems associated.

Arblaster & Clarke's wine tours have been regarded as the pioneers of wine industry which are led by a group of wine experts. It is also regarded as “the world's leading specialist wine tour operator” (Kay, 2012, pp.345). This is because they were pioneers of wine tourism in major parts of Portugal, Italy, Spain, and France. The wine tours organized by the SIT allow tourists to have special visits as well as have an experience during wine tasting processes (Kay, 2012, pp.345). Wine and major delicacies are offered during the visits. Some of the major destinations for Arblaster & Clarke's wine tours include Italy, South Africa, France, Chile, Spain, and Portugal. Exploring the vineyards and the wine cellars gives the consumer the feeling of being part of the wine industry. Some of the tourists visit for fun, others for explorations while others see it as a ritual they have to undertake. Wine tourism has been defined by Sellito (2005, p.126), Alebaki & Iakovidou (2011, p.123) and Shor and Mansfeld (2009, p.7) as the visitation to wine shows, wine festivals, wineries, and vineyards for the purposes of wine tasting or having an experience. Therefore, wine tourism operates in a wine space domain which makes it special interest tourism (Woodside & Martin 2007, p.11)

Porter (2000) Morrison (1998) and Williams (1997) suggest that there are some general management issues facing all SIT operators. How might some of these be relevant to operators in your product area?

Management issues are found in all business practices. In reference to the SIT operators, one of the major issues is knowing the degree of wine ...