WINE TOURISM

Special Interest in Context with Wine Tourism



Special Interest Tourism

How might it be termed special interest?

Introduction

Special Interest Tourism is defined as travel to a place outside the usual residential environment, involving a stay of at least one night but no more than 1 year, with varying motivations, such as business, pleasure, visits to friends and relatives (VFR), and education. It is one of the world's largest industries. Tourism has long been of interest to geographers, given its spatial, temporal, and activity patterns and given its major economic and environmental impacts, ranging from the local to the global. (Thomas, 2004, pp: 232) Special interest of Wine tourism in Europe comprises a wide range of experiences built around tourist visitation to wineries and wine regions, including:

Wine tasting

Wine and food

The enjoyment of regional environs

Day trip or longer term recreation

The experience of a range of companion/complementary cultural, nature based and lifestyle activities available in wine regions.

Discussion

Sociology has arguably been the key discipline in the emergence of a scholarly interest in tourism. While many other disciplines have become fully engaged in tourism research and studies, and many including social anthropology and human geography are fellow travelers (and are in many ways indistinguishable from sociology), few have such a track record of theoretical development over such a long period. This is because, from very early in the twentieth century, sociologists began to understand how tourism and touristic behavior was implicated in the profound social and cultural transformations associated with urbanization and the transformation of city sensibilities, predispositions to the coast, water and health as well as travel, sporting and associational life, and the emergence of culture, consumption, consumerism and leisure as a new domain and organizing dimension of social life (Thomas, 2004, pp: 242).

The tourism industry has been described as one of the global economic success stories of the last 40 years (Poon, 1997). Governments in developing countries often invest in tourism with the assumption that it will contribute to economic development. Tourism is viewed as a means for national and regional development to increase employment, foreign exchange earnings, balance of payments advantages, and infrastructure. In developing countries, sustainable tourism is especially important because it has the potential to bring social, economic, and environmental benefits.

In the recent years, special interest of wine tourism has become a significant part of the tourism industry in Europe. Special events, sporting specialties, and unique tourist destinations have all become part of one vast tourism sector. Some companies now seek to lure consumers behavior by appealing to their specific interests or tastes, instead of marketing with a cookie-cutter approach (Hall, 2004, pp: 116).

Conclusion

It is concluded that special interest tourism assess the economic and social benefits of wine tourism to wine regions and the wine industry. We begin by examining definitions and concepts, and then we move to a discussion of socioeconomic and environmental impacts, and strategies for managing impacts. This may enhancing visitor satisfaction by increasing activities for tourists (Hall, 2004, pp: ...