The Staging of Experiences in Wine Tourism

This article was downloaded by: [McMaster University]On: 04 November 2014, At: 08:34Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Hospitality Marketing &ManagementPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/whmm20

The Staging of Experiences in WineTourismBirgit Pikkemaat a , Mike Peters b , Philip Boksberger b & ManuelaSecco ca Department of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism ,University of Innsbruck , Innsbruck, Austriab School of Hotel and Tourism Management , The Hong KongPolytechnic University , Hong Kongc Institute for Tourism and Leisure Research, Department ofTourism Management , University of Applied Sciences Chur , Chur,SwitzerlandPublished online: 04 Mar 2009.

To cite this article: Birgit Pikkemaat , Mike Peters , Philip Boksberger & Manuela Secco (2009) TheStaging of Experiences in Wine Tourism, Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 18:2-3,237-253, DOI: 10.1080/19368620802594110

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19368620802594110

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever orhowsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arisingout of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &

http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/whmm20

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1080/19368620802594110

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19368620802594110

Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014

http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

237

Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 18:237–253, 2009 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1936-8623 print/1936-8631 onlineDOI: 10.1080/19368620802594110

WHMM1936-86231936-8631Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, Vol. 18, No. 2-3, Dec 2008: pp. 0–0Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management

The Staging of Experiences in Wine Tourism

The Staging of Experiences in Wine TourismB. Pikkemaat et al.

BIRGIT PIKKEMAATDepartment of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism,

University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

MIKE PETERSSchool of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

PHILIP BOKSBERGERInstitute for Tourism and Leisure Research, Department of Tourism Management,

University of Applied Sciences Chur, Chur, Switzerland

MANUELA SECCODepartment of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism,

University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

This article analyzes the potential of wine tourism to create experiencesfor the tourist. For this purpose the authors benefit from Scheurer’s(2003) and Mueller and Scheurer’s (2004) experience setting model. Aliterature review reveals research gaps in the field of experience-oriented wine tourism services and products and calls for more empir-ical investigations. Therefore, the empirical part of the article presentsthe case study of the South Tyrolean Wine Route in Italy and appliesthe experience setting model to assess the potential of experience-orien-tation of wine routes. The article concludes with tourism policy andmanagement implications and derives questions for further research.

KEYWORDS Wine tourism, staging, experiences, South Tyrol

INTRODUCTION

On the one hand, today tourists show a tendency towards experience-intensityand life-hype as they demand impulsive and fast experiences (Pine &

Address correspondence to Birgit Pikkemaat, Department of Strategic Management,Marketing and Tourism, University of Innsbruck, Universitätsstrasse 15, A–6020, Innsbruck,Austria. E-mail: birgit. [email protected]

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014

238 B. Pikkemaat et al.

Gilmore, 1999; Andersson, 2007). On the other hand, they increasinglysearch for ‘silent’ relaxation, authenticity and ‘soft’ tourism experiences,such as hiking, ocean-cruising, or wine-tourism (Wang, 1999; Taylor, 2001).It’s obvious that the tourism supply side is faced with new challenges: con-sumers search for multi-optional offers and experiences which are deliveredin an exciting but also comfortable and authentic atmosphere (Reiter, 2004;European Travel Commission, 2006)

Wine tourism seems to be able to fulfil many of these new customerrequirements. So far research in wine tourism has focused either on thedescription of the wine tourism product and wine routes (Cambourne &Macionis, 2000; Hall et al., 2000; Bruwer, 2003; Hashimoto & Telfer, 2003)or on market segmentation (Charters & Ali-Knight, 2002; Williams & Dossa,2003; Brown & Getz, 2005). Following recent research of Cambourne,Macionis, Hall, Mitchell, & Sharples (2000) and Carmichael (2005) the deliv-erance of experiences and added value for wine tourists will be of increas-ing importance in the future: wine tourists will be more experienced inwine and search for authentic wine experiences.

Staging experiences in wine tourism implies that wine producers in adestination “intentionally use services as the stage and goods as props, toengage individual customers in a way that creates a memorable event” (Pine& Gilmore, 1999, p. 11). Thus, it is a challenge for wine destinations andentrepreneurs to create multi-optional attractions and to stage experiencesfor their guests. The literature review has revealed that beside the study ofCarmichael (2005) there is no research done in the field of wine tourismexperience. While Carmichael (2005) assessed wine tourism experience ona combination of human service quality and an environmental contextualperspective, the purpose of this article is rather to evaluate the potential tostage experiences in wine tourism. Elaborated on Mueller and Scheurer’s(2004) experience setting model this study analyses the experience potentialof wine tourism in the region of South Tyrol (Italy). It is believed that expe-riences in wine tourism can be characterised as “soft” attractions in a crosscultural context with a dominant emotional value. Having in mind that truetourism experiences allow tourists to engage them via all the senses (AmericanExpress, 2006), it was analysed both how tourists perceive experiences inwine tourism as well as how entrepreneurs stage wine experiences.

BACKGROUND

The Importance of Wine Tourism

Wine tourism has become an important form of tourism since the mid 90swhen one could observe a steady growth of tourists interested in wine whodisplayed relatively high expenses (Getz & Brown, 2006). Social sciencesresearch discovered wine tourism as a field of research in the last decade: a

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014

The Staging of Experiences in Wine Tourism 239

large number of studies focussed on consumer research with a special interestin guests staying in wineries or spending their money on wine while travel-ling (Getz & Brown, 2006). Today’s main motivation factor for wine tourism iswine with its additional services and products. Often wine is embedded in avariety of events and attractions or in a bundle of destination services andproducts (Correia, Passos Ascenção, & Charters, 2004; Frochot, 2004).

For instance, the core service of the vineyard experience include thevineyard itself, the wines, food and architecture, the surrounding environ-ment, employees and other visitors, as well as the wine region’s charm,festivals and events in the region or cultural heritage features (Mitchell &Hall, 2004). This package of cultural, culinary and additional tourist goodsand services with wine as the core theme of the visit can form the ideal valuechain of wine tourism products/services (Carlsen, 2004; Carmichael, 2005).

The literature provides a variety of definitions of what ‘wine tourism’ is.Hall and Macionis (1998, 1997) define wine tourism as “visitation to vine-yards, wineries, wine festivals and wine shows for which grape wine regionsare the main motivating factor for visitors.” Johnson (1998) describes visitingwine-focused festivals or shows as specific forms of recreation. Getz (1998,2000) offers three specific perspectives on what wine tourism is and posi-tions it in a strategic management context. Wine tourism can be a strategythrough which destinations develop and wine-related attractions are mar-keted. For instance, a number of recent contributions have investigated thepotential of wine tourism for repositioning destinations or for enhancingtheir product portfolio (Wargenau & Che, 2006; Hall et al., 2000; Williams &Kelly, 2001; Williams, 2001). Secondly, wine tourism can be interpreted as aform of consumer behaviour which motivates wine lovers and those inter-ested in wine regions to travel to preferred destinations of wine production(Tassiopoulos, Nuntsu, & Haydam, 2004; Mitchell & Hall, 2004). Finally, winetourism is an opportunity for wineries and wine merchants to sell their prod-ucts directly to consumers (Alant & Bruwer, 2004). An appropriate constitu-tive definition of wine tourism is proposed by Geißler (2007):

Wine tourism embraces and includes a wide range of experiences builtaround tourist visitation to wineries, wine regions or wine-related eventsand shows – including wine tasting, wine and food, the enjoyment ofthe regional environs, day trips or longer term recreation, and the expe-rience of a range of cultural and lifestyle activities. (p. 29)

On the one hand, wine and its related products and services are able toadd value to the tourism value chain; on the other hand, tourism plays anincreasing role in the wine industry. Wine tourism centres can heighten theattractiveness of a region. In addition, wine tourism can increase direct vine-yard sales and local wine can be exported internationally (Hall et al., 2000).For instance, the Napa Valley (Northern California, USA) attracts more than

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014


5 million tourists per annum and has tremendously increased sales everyyear. Certainly, new employment opportunities can be created in the tour-ism and wine industry (Hall et al., 2000). Due to this increasing role of winetourism in the area of regional development, the generation of additionalsales, as well as the improvement of customer value, we can also find anincreasing number of research initiatives focussing on wineries, wine routes(Bruwer, 2003; Hashimoto & Telfer, 2003; Wargenau & Che, 2006), festivals,and events (Yuan, Cai, Morrison, & Linton, 2005; Carlsen, 2004). Whilemany wine tourism research initiatives focus on the analysis of the demandside (Dodd, Yuan, Adams, & Kolyesnikova, 2006; Sparks, 2007; Charters &Ali-Knight, 2002; Brown & Getz, 2005), one can find an increasing amountof supply-side and policy oriented wine tourism research (Poitras & Getz,2006; Martin & Williams, 2003).

Staging Tourism Experiences

The competitive situation of tourism has changed fundamentally over thelast decade and will do so in the future. The “new” tourist is more experi-enced and therefore more demanding, expects to receive additional value,strives for individuality, is more flexible at short notice, is economicallyindependent and more price sensitive. At the same time the tourism industryis challenged by a variety of alternative leisure offers such as theme parks,entertainment centres, wellness, fashion, food, gambling, music, movies,and information and communication technologies (Rifkin, 2000). Thus, tour-ism and leisure providers commonly share the distinct orientation of peopleon leisure time and experiences to increase their profit (Schulze, 2000). Thistrend of experience economy is rooted in the transformation process of theaffluent societies into experience societies in which people tend to see alifetime as an experimental project (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). In these experi-ence societies people can be described as insatiable seekers for experienceswho devote “a considerable portion of our resources to the pursuit of, thegood life’ – one of contentment, pleasure, and happiness” (Van Boven &Gilovich, 2003, p. 1193). Thus experiences are the result of encountering,undergoing, or living through situations that provided sensory, emotional,cognitive, behavioural, relational and functional values (Schmitt, 1999). Orin other words, experiences trigger a “steady flow of fantasies, feelings, andfun” (Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982, p. 132).

For tourism this trend implies that experiences are not longer anoptional added value but a mandatory benefit of any tourism offer (Larsen,2007; American Express, 2006, p. 5): “Nowhere is the desire for experiencehaving more impact than in the travel sector, since today’s affluent travellersseek far more than just a standard tour.” However, tourism is confrontedwith the problem of ambiguity in staging experiences. First, today touristsdemand for “hard” attractions with a high experience density (Andersson,

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014


2007) as well as “soft” attractions that offer educative and authentic experiences(Wang, 1999; Taylor, 2001). Second, the perception of tourism experiences var-ies among individuals, communities and cultures and defines its range of cov-erage accordingly. Thus, tourism experiences can either be staged in an acrosscultural context, for culture specific customers or subculture orientated. Andthird, tourism experiences are shaped by its utilitarian, social and emotionalvalues (Fournier, 1991; Vigneron & Johnson, 1999; Kilian & Boksberger, 2007).The shift of emphasis among the three tourism experience values dependsupon tourists’ primary purchase intention: “experiential purchases are thosemade with the primary intention of acquiring a life experience: an event or aseries of events that one lives through” (Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003, p. 1194).

A comprehensive model for staging tourism experiences is delivered byScheurer (2003). His original model was enhanced by Mueller and Scheurer’s(2004) experience setting model that is presented in Figure 1. The focus ofthis model is the experience of visitors in a defined setting. Environmental

FIGURE 1 The setting of experiences (Mueller & Scheurer 2004, p. 16).

AtmosphereVisitors Experience Perception Staging Environment

Demand side Supply side

Theme

Wellbeing

SceneryAttractions/Activities

Guidance of Visitors

Visitors

Concept of Staging

TOOLS FOR STAGING EXPERIENCES

THE SETTING OF EXPERIENCES

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014


impulses for a special setting can be both positive and negative. The sum ofall positive and negative impulses in a defined setting results in emotionalfeelings of visitors which can be labelled as “atmosphere.” On the supplyside it is of utmost importance to create a positive atmosphere which setspositive impulses for visitors.

Consequently, this model treats staging as the management tool of theexperience setting for delivering a positive atmosphere to visitors. Accordingto Mueller and Scheurer (2004) seven instruments and tools have beendeveloped to appropriately stage experiences (see Figure 1):

• Theming is the most important tool and provides coherence. It stronglyinfluences potential consumers’ decision to visit their attraction. Thetheming has to be authentic and should support branding strategies of thedestination. Often culture, history, and myths create the background totheme a destination. As destinations are complex bundles of tourismproducts and services, they provide a broad range of themes. Thesethemes have to be put into hierarchy and linked with the core theme ofthe destination.

• The concept of staging is the planning and coordination tool. It strategicallyand operatively plans and coordinates single staging elements within theexperience setting (Pine & Gilmore, 1998). Potential target markets haveto be defined and analyzed in terms of customer expectations and behav-iours. Furthermore, it serves as a platform which is helpful to coordinateall actors involved in optimizing the staging of the destination experience.

• Attractions and activities are triggering tools which help to produceevents and happenings in order to deliver experiences for visitors. Allattractions and activities correspond with the theme as well as with visitors’expectations and contribute to the overall experience setting (Peters &Weiermair, 2000). For instance, mountain railways, wellness or sport facil-ities, museums, playgrounds or special events are activities or attractions.

• The scenery is the aesthetic tool and is dominated by destinations’ naturalresources. For instance, landscape or weather influences the scenery aswell as architecture, illumination, and interferences in the landscapewhich represents the servicescape area for the visitor (Fitzsimmons &Fitzsimmons, 2006).

• Visitor guidance attempts to manage visitor flow. Particularly the informationconcept including the signage is part of this tool. Design elements suchas gates, resting places, and viewing platforms may be helpful to guidevisitors (Weiermair, 2006). To plan visitor guidance service blueprintingor flowcharting as well as walk-through-audits are recommended instru-ments (Fitzimmons & Fitzsimmons, 2006).

• Wellbeing is a supporting tool for visitor’s positive evaluation of the expe-rience setting and is strongly linked with visitor guidance. Only visitorswho feel comfortable will perceive positive experiences and experience a

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014


psychological well-being (Milman, 1998). To provide wellbeing a settingcould offer e.g. restrooms with nappy change facilities, restaurants, orappropriate information desks.

• Finally, the visitors as evaluation tool: visitors may evaluate the experiencein a negative or positive way. In order to optimize the staging of experi-ences in destinations it is of high relevance to assess visitors’ behaviourand satisfaction (Weiermair, 2006). In addition, guests are part of theattraction and experiences.

Several advantages of the experience setting model become obvious:first, it includes both, the demand and the supply side, but focus on thestaging of experiences from a management view; second, it already hasbeen empirically tested in several destinations in Switzerland and WesternAustria (Mueller & Scheurer, 2004) and seems to be practicable; third, itdelivers analytical tools for staging experiences; fourth, these staging toolsare applicable to diverse kinds of experience settings or destinations.

METHODOLOGY

As the aim of this article is to analyse the potential of experiences in winetourism the authors used the proposed model to analyse the staging ofexperiences. Therefore, the procedure presented in Figure 2 was applied.

Following this framework the first step is to set boundaries for the set-ting of experiences: to answer the question which destination or region isthe object of investigation. The South Tyrolean Wine Route (STWR) is oneof the oldest wine routes in Italy and was registered as an association 40

FIGURE 2 Procedure for analyzing the staging of experiences.

Anonymous experience tester

Personal interviews with

experts Visitor survey

Step 1: Setting boundaries of the experience setting

Step 3: Results and Discussion

Step 2: Analysing the staging of experiences

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014


years ago (Handelskammer Bozen, 2006). Today, this association consists of15 communities which all together hosted more than 2.5 million overnightstays in 2006. In comparison the whole destination South Tyrol totalling26 million overnight stays in 2006 (Landesinstitut für Statistik, 2007). Datawere gathered from the five most important wine destinations in terms ofovernight stays in the STWR, i.e. Kaltern, Eppan, Terlan, Tramin, and Auer.

Second, in the main part of the study the staging of experiences was anal-ysed. For this reason three complementary market research methods (basedon previous research of Carmichael, 2005) were applied during May 2007:

• Anonymous experiences testers carried out observations in the fiveselected wine destinations in the STWR. They used a structured data sheetwhich included six of the seven tools for staging experiences (see Figure 1).The observations were carried out in different experiences settings of theSTWR at the five selected destinations.

• For explaining the reasons and the background of staging wine experi-ences in the STWR six experts were interviewed with a semi structuredquestionnaire. Four interviews were carried out with people involved indeveloping wine tourism products and services in the STWR. Two inter-views were conducted with experts in staging experiences in tourism.Each interview took between 45 and 60 minutes.

• To receive feedback and the evaluation of visitors a quantitative survey ofwine tourists vacationing in hotels in the five selected destinations wasconducted. Questions were developed by the researchers based on anextensive literature review identifying the various aspects of stagingexperiences (Pine & Gilmore, 1999; Brunner-Sperdin, 2006). Questionsreferred to the evaluation of wine tourism and wine activities. The question-naire was developed in German and Italian language and distributed tohotels in the five selected destinations. Within a week 38 usable question-naires were collected.

The data sheets of the anonymous experience testers were analyzedaccording to the former stated tools of staging experiences (Mueller & Scheurer,2004). The expert interviews were analyzed using qualitative interpretationmethods (Mayring, 2007) and the quantitative survey using SPSS software 12.0for windows. Descriptive analyses were conducted for all survey items while itwas difficult to further probe into the data due to its small size.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Anonymous Experience Testers

The theming of wine was analyzed within each setting though the sceneries(STWR destinations) seem to be similar, thus characterized by a smooth and

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014


beautiful landscape with a favourable moderate South European climate.Guidance and well-being of visitors is amalgamated and the staging conceptincludes attractions and activities (see Table 1). A visitor evaluation hasbeen carried out separately and is presented subsequently. This procedureseems to be adequate as Mueller and Scheurer (2004) point out that the toolsdo not follow a strong hierarchical order and fit into each other. Informationabout type or structure of guests is also included in Table 1 that delivers anoverview of the results from the different experience settings.

It becomes obvious that some destinations theme wine much morethan others. While some destinations theme wine by artefacts, infrastructureand activities others are hardly involved in theming wine. The same holdstrue for the concept of staging as traffic seems to dominate some winedestinations and their centres are often not designed aesthetically. Aninconsistent signage of the STWR is another disadvantage for the concept ofthe wine experience.

TABLE 1 Different Experience Settings in the Five Selected Destinations as Evaluated by FiveTesters

Theming of Wine

Concept of Staging Wine and Wine Activities

Guidance and wellbeing of visitors

Structure of Guests

Kaltern Theming of wine is existent and dominates

Wine attractions exist: wine museum, wine house, wine centre, wine associations, brochures and tourist information about the wine routes exists, pedestrian area

Consistent signage of the STWR and information

Couples of all ages.

Eppan Hardly existent, theming of castles dominant

Only guided tours in vineyards are offered, partly traffic- reduced areas.

Inconsistent signage of the STWR but very little information

Elder couples and families.

Terlan Rarely existent,theming of asparagus dominate

Only guided tours in wine cellars and vineyards are offered; public seating available at the main road

Inconsistent signage of the STWR and no advice offered

Elder couples and families.

Tramin Theming of wine exists at first glance and dominates

Primarily wine cellars and ongoing wine events, the centre of the destination is decorated with flowers but suffer from traffic congestion

Welcome sign exists but inconsistent signage of the STWR

Couples and families of all ages

Auer Very rarely existent

Wine attractions are rare, wine attractions in the neighbouring destination Montan are promoted, the destination is dominated by the main road

Inconsistent signage of the STWR and no advice offered

Couples of all ages; sporadic families.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014


Following implications regarding the staging of wine experiences in theSTWR can be drawn from these preliminary results: To improve the themingof wine and to deliver wine experiences all destinations in the STWR shoulddevelop consistent information and marketing policy as well as a commondesign. Ideally, a corporate identity can be created by common goals andstrategy development. A corporate identity however requires at least acorporate design, a corporate culture and a corporate behaviour. Accordingto the results of the anonymous testers the STWR in particular lacks acorporate design.

Expert Interviews

First of all the experts were asked which factors they perceive as key successvariables for the STWR: they highlighted the importance of cross industrycharacter, landscape, and population as key success factors of the STWR. Aprerequisite for the success of the STWR is a close collaboration of allinvolved organizations and entrepreneurs. The interviewees interpret thelandscape and especially its vineyards as the core asset of the wine route.And third, the experts mentioned locals or local stakeholders to be a coresuccess factor for the STWR. Beside these three main factors orientation andinformation, quality of accommodation, and the organization of communityevents are seen as important attributes which contribute to guest satisfaction.To develop or enhance this unique tourism product the interviewees emphasizethe utilization of existent resources, regional tradition, and theming.

All experts agreed that ideal target market for the wine route is elderlyguests of high education who are generally interested in culture and arts. Inaddition, families are a potential target market. One staging expert pointedout that young guests are not a main target market. While the communitiesfinance the wine production, tourism organisations are responsible formarketing and event organisation. The challenge for wine entrepreneurs is todevelop and manage wine events and happenings to create guest experiences.

In the eyes of the interviewees the landscape is the core attraction ofthe STWR, especially vineyards and castles, followed by old but renovatedwine cellars. In addition, large wine events, for instance the STWR weeksfrom the beginning until the middle of May 2007 are interpreted as impor-tant added value for wine tourists. Experts were also asked about theirunderstanding of staging experiences: they indicated that theming andstaging should not be artificial but authentic and historically appropriate.

In the second part of the interview experts were asked to rank predefined success factors of experiences for the STWR on a six point LikertScale (1 = not important, 6 = very important). In addition, they should inter-pret these factors in terms of implementation in the STWR. Table 2 belowdisplays the results.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014


Surprisingly the experts evaluated supply factors as the most importantones. Thus, infrastructure and management are more important in theirview than the involvement of guests, the delivering of experiences byaddressing all senses, or the offering of a broad range of activities. Regardingthe involvement of guests some experts prefer individual personal serviceswhile others favour guided tours with audio equipment. Summarizing theresults, a corporate design including a unique common logo and signage forall destinations are of utmost importance for the success of the STWR.

Visitor Survey

SAMPLE DESCRIPTION

Slightly more than half of all respondents are male (57%). For 85% of allvisitors this was not the first time they visited the STWR. Fifty four percentof guests stay more than one week which is in comparison to other alpineregions, such as Tyrol a long duration of stay. For instance, in Tyrol theduration of stay was 4.3 days in 2006 (Tourmis 2007). Friends and relativesmake up 79% of the most important information source for the STWR.Surprisingly more than half of the sample drink seldom wine (52%) and 5%are no wine drinkers. The rest of the sample drinks wine for diner and/or atlunch. Asking respondents about their association with wine, 44% label it asa destination specific product while 41% define it as a moment of ‘beingtogether’, 13% as beverage, 2% as life-style product and 2% as others.

RESULTS

Tourists were asked about their expectations of products and activities on awine route. In addition they indicated their degree of satisfaction with theSTWR. To categorize the items, the four dimensions of the experience realm

TABLE 2 Results of the Success Factors for the STWR

Success factors in the STWR Mean value

Landscaping Ecological development and landscape maintenance, reduction of traffic

5.6

Information and signage Guide for STWR is planned, quality standard, clear communication, large letters

5.6

Human resources Skilled, multi-lingual, knowledge about wine and local culture, uniform dress

5.5.

The theme Overall concept, corporate design and signage in all destinations 5.0Experiences for all senses Wine cellars, culinary products, tasting, unique,

wine weeks, hiking trails4.6

Diversity and choice of activities Calmness, history, quality, authenticity, wine stations with information

4.5

Involvement of guests Guided tours, personal services, individual, story telling 4.3

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014


of Pine and Gilmore (1999) i.e. entertainment, education, escape, and aes-thetics were used (see Table 3).

Table 3 indicates that for most tourists ‘aesthetics’ is the mostimportant experience dimension in wine routes while ‘education’ seemsto be the most unimportant dimension. Having a closer look at singleitems of the dimensions ‘information and signage’ of the wine routearise as the most important item (79%) followed by another item inthe area of aesthetics: ‘a wine dominated landscape’ (77%). The thirdimportant item in the entertainment dimension is ‘guided wine tours invineyards with wine tasting’ (75%) followed by ‘participation in wine

TABLE 3 Tourists Evaluation of Wine Experiences Along the STWR

Experiences Items

Expectations (%) Satisfaction in the STWR (%)

ImportantNot

important ExistentNot

existentDo

not know

Entertainment Wine events 60 40 60 10 30Guided wine tours in

vineyards with tastings

75 25 65 3 32

Cultural events theming wine

41 59 29 16 55

On average 59 41 51 10 39

Education Learning about wine and its production (guided tours, wine courses)

49 51 47 3 50

. . . about wine culture (wine and gastronomy)

41 59 45 6 49

. . . about wine history (wine museum)

42 59 62 3 35

On average 56 44 51 4 45

Escape Guided tours through vineyards

57 43 48 7 45

Participating in the wine production process

68 32 30 7 63

Sport activities combined with wine (wine hiking)

44 56 30 13 57

On average 56 44 36 9 55

Aesthetics Landscape is dominated by wine

77 23 64 4 32

Signage and Information of the wine route

79 21 52 8 40

Well-tended wine bars and wine shops

66 34 62 0 38

On average 74 26 59 4 37

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014


production’ (68%) which is labelled as an escape item. Very unimportantitems in the eyes of the tourists are cultural events which theme wine(41%) and ‘learning about wine culture’ (41%) and ‘wine history’ (42%)as educational items.

In terms of satisfaction, the aesthetic dimension is ranked highest (59%)followed by entertainment and education (each 51%) and escape (36%).Therefore, large gaps exist between importance and satisfaction for escapeand aesthetics dimensions. While this gap seems not to be that important forthe escape dimension because tourists rank ‘escape’ not as a very importantdimension, the gap for the aesthetic dimension should be analyzed as this isthe most important experience dimension in the STWR for tourists. Anotherinteresting importance-satisfaction gap should be pointed out: For instance,63% of the sample does not know whether it is possible to participate in thewine production process. But for 68% an active participation is seen as animportant item. This reveals that there a lack of information exists aboutproducts offered in the STWR. They seem to have information gaps aboutsingle wine activities and events.

As Pine and Gilmore (1999) point out, it is of utmost importance to creatememorable experiences. For this reason tourists were asked to commemo-rate their most important experience of the STWR. Four answer categorieswere provided: Surprisingly ‘locals and hospitality’ were indicated as veryimportant memories (56%) followed by ‘others’ (22%) including nature,landscape and food/eating. ‘Wine and wine culture’ were only ranked third(15%) followed by ’tradition’ (7%).

CONCLUSION

Until today, one can hardly find any research contributions which attemptto empirically validate experience settings in tourism. In this study Muellerand Scheurer’s (2004) experience setting model was empirically tested.Its strengths are the use of miscellaneous methods to gather data and thelinkage between supply and demand side investigations. However, the pro-cedure proofed to be very complex and time extensive.

To carry out the research it was decided to run the analysis along theSouth Tyrolean Wine Route because it can be postulated that wine tourismcovers a wide range of experience-oriented services and products. Theoverall findings highlight the importance of creating experiences for touristswho are interested in visiting wineries and/or wine regions. However, theresults from expert interviews as well as visitor survey revel that the initialinterest (wine) is not on top of the experience driving factors. Instead theaesthetic components, such as landscape and information about wine aresuccess factors of high relevance in staging experiences. These resultsunderline the existing potential to create experiences in wine tourism in

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014


creating an ideal atmosphere, guiding tourists and in theming wine andwine production. Thus, destination managers should optimize the coherenceof wine routes and link villages through optimal guidance and signage aswell as through elements of theming and staging. Interestingly enough, avariety of events in the field of wine tourism take place in South Tyrol, butthere is still a need to develop a coherent value chain.

The study faces limitations in the manner of its sample which is toosmall and therefore not representative. In addition, the survey was carriedout in May while it can be assumed that different data could be gathered inautumn, the high season for wine tourism in Europe. Survey timing canalso influence the composition of the sample as we probably find morewine-interested tourists in the high season than during spring time. Thus, itis recommended to undertake an analysis during several seasons.

While the study was able to initially derive success factors to stagewine tourism, future, more comprehensive research should attempt toincrease the reliability and validity. Thus, the dual answer structure(important / not important) for measuring expectations might be problem-atic since the formulation of the questions imply a reflex in answering thatfinally all criteria were important. Moreover, comparisons with other wineregions may help to identify certain key success factors in the experiencessetting and will enable researchers to reveal benchmarks for the creationof experiences in wine tourism. However, the comparison between theresults of the symbiosis between wineries and tourism in a traditionalwine region (STWR) and an emerging wine region (Carmichael, 2005)proved no major difference.

REFERENCES

Alant, K., & Bruwer, J. (2004). Wine tourism behaviour in the context of a motiva-tional framework for wine regions and cellar doors. Journal of Wine Research,15(1), 27–37.

American Express. (2006). 21st centurion living – The trends changing our perceptionof luxury in the 21st century. New York: American Express Publishing.

Andersson, T. (2007). The tourist in the experience economy. Scandinavian Journalof Hospitality and Tourism, 7(1), 46–58.

Brown, G., & Getz, D. (2005). Linking wine preferences to the choice of wine tour-ism destinations. Journal of Travel Research, 43, 266–276.

Brunner-Sperdin, A. (2006). Das Phänomen des Flow-Erlebens, Emotionen undKundenzufriedenheit. In K. Weiermair & A. Brunner-Sperdin (Eds.), Erlebnisin-szenierung im Tourismus [Staging of experiences in tourism] (pp. 23–34). Berlin:Erich Schmidt Verlag.

Bruwer, J. (2003). South African wine routes: Some perspectives on the wine tourismindustry’s structural dimensions and wine tourism product. Tourism Management,24, 423–435.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014


Cambourne, B., Macionis, N., Hall, M., Mitchell, R., & Sharples, L. (2000). The futureof wine tourism. In C. M. Hall, L. Sharples, B. Cambourne, & N. Macionis(Eds.), Wine tourism around the world - Development, management andmarkets (pp. 297–320). Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.

Cambourne, B., & Macionis, N. (2000). Meeting the wine-maker: Wine tourism productdevelopment in an emerging wine region. In M. Hall, L. Sharples, B. Cambourne,& N. Macionis,. (Eds.), Wine tourism around the world - Development, manage-ment and markets (pp. 81–114). Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.

Carlsen, J. (2004). Review of global wine tourism research. Journal of WineResearch, 15(1), 5–13.

Carmichael, B. A. (2005). Understanding the wine tourism experience for winery vis-itors in the Niagara region, Ontario, Canada. Tourism Geographies, 7, 185–204.

Charters, S., & Ali-Knight, J. (2002). Who is the wine tourist? Tourism Management,23, 311–319.

Correia, L., Passos Ascenção, M. J., & Charters, S. (2004) Wine routes in Portugal: Acase study of the Bairrada Wine Route. Journal of Wine Research, 15(1), 15–25.

Dodd, T., Yuan, J., Adams, C., & Kolyesnikova, N. (2006). Motivation of youngpeople for visiting wine festivals. Event Management, 10(1), 23–33.

European Travel Commission. (2006). Tourism trends in Europe. Brüssels: EuropeanUnion.

Fitzsimmons, J., & Fitzsimmons, M. (2006). Service management. Boston: McGraw-Hill.Fournier, S. (1991). A meaning-based framework for the study of consumer-object

relations. Advances in Consumer Research, 18, 736–742.Frochot, I. (2004). Wine tourism in France: A paradox? In C. M. Hall, L. Sharples,

B. Cambourne, & N. Macionis (Eds.), Wine tourism around the world — Develop-ment, management and markets (pp. 67–80). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Geißler, R. (2007). Weininteressierte und ihr Reiseverhalten [Wine interested consumersand their travel behavior]. Diploma thesis, University of Innsbruck, Austria.

Getz, D. (1998, May). Wine tourism: Global overview and perspective on its devel-opment. In R. Dowling, & J. Carlsen (Eds.), Wine tourism, Perfect partners (pp.13–33). Proceedings of the Bureau of Tourism Research’s First Australian WineTourism Conference, Margaret River, Western Australia.

Getz, D. (2000). Explore wine tourism. Management, development & destinations.Elmsford, NY: Cognizant Communication Corporation.

Getz, D., & Brown, G. (2006). Critical success factors for wine tourism regions: Ademand analysis. Tourism Management, 27, 146–158.

Hall, C. M., & Macionis, N. (1998). Wine tourism in Australia and New Zealand. InR. Butler, C. Hall, & J. Jenkins (Eds.), Wine tourism and recreation in ruralareas (pp. 197–224). New York: Wiley.

Hall, C. M., Johnson, G., Cambourne, B., Macionis, N., Mitchell, R. & Sharples, L.(2000). Wine tourism: An introduction. In C. M. Hall, L. Sharples, B. Cambourne, &N. Macionis (Eds.), Wine tourism around the world - Development, manage-ment and markets (pp. 1–23). Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.

Handelskammer Bozen – Südtiroler Weinwerbung [South Tyrol Wine Marketing].(2006). Weinland Südtirol [Wine country South Tyrol]. Bozen: Fotolito Druck.

Hashimoto, A., & Telfer, D. (2003). Positioning an emerging wine route in theNiagara region: Understanding the wine tourism market and its implications for

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014


marketing. In M. Hall (Ed.), Wine, food, and tourism marketing (pp. 61–76).New York: The Haworth Hospitality Press.

Holbrook, M. B., & Hirschman, E. C. (1982). The experiential aspects of consumption:Consumer fantasies, feelings, and fun. Journal of Consumer Research, 9, 132–140.

Johnson, H. (1998). Wine tourism in New Zealand -- A national survey of wineries.Unpublished Dissertation, University of Otago, Dundedin, New Zealand.

Kilian, K., & Boksberger, P. E. (2007). Tourismus im zeitalter der erlebnisökonomie[Tourism in the age of experience economy]. In Th. Egger, & Th. Herdin (Eds.),Tourismus – Herausforderung [Tourism: Future challenges] (pp. 259–273)Vienna: Lit–Verlag.

Landesinstitut für Statistik. (2007). Ankünfte und Übernachtungen nach Betriebsarten,[Arrivals and overnight stays for various business types] Bozen: AutonomeProvinz Bozen, South Tyrol.

Larsen, S. (2007). Aspects of psychology of the tourist experience. ScandinavianJournal of Hospitality and Tourism, 7(1), 7–18.

Martin, E., & Williams, P. (2003). Directions in British Columbia wine tourismpolicy. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 15,317–323.

Mayring, P. (2007). Qualitative inhaltsanalyse: Grundlagen und techniken [Qualitativecontent analysis: Basics and techniques]. Beltz: Weinheim.

Milmann, A. (1998). The impact of tourism and travel experience on senior travelers’psychological well-being. Journal of Travel Research, 37, 166–170.

Mitchell, R., & Hall, C. M. (2004). The post-visit consumer behaviour of NewZealand winery visitors. Journal of Wine Research, 15(1), 39–49.

Mueller, H. R., & Scheurer, R. (2004). Tourismus-Destination als Erlebniswelt: EinLeitfaden zur Angebotsinszenierung [Tourism destination as an experienceworld: A guideline to stage experiences]. Bern: Forschungsinstitut für Freizeitund Tourismus (FIF) der Universität Bern [Research Institute for Leisure andTourism, University of Berne].

Peters, M., & Weiermair, K. (2000). Tourist attractions and attracted tourists: How tosatisfy today’s fickle tourist client. The Journal of Tourism Studies, 11(1), 22–29.

Pine, B. D., & Gilmore, J. J. (1998). Welcome to the experience economy. HarvardBusiness Review, 76(4), 97–105.

Pine, B. D., & Gilmore, J. J. (1999). The experience economy. Boston: Harvard Busi-ness Press.

Poitras, L., & Getz, D. (2006). Sustainable wine tourism: The host communityperspective. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 14, 435–448.

Reiter, A. (2004). The hybrid consumer of leisure squeezed between fun maximiza-tion, chill out, and the radical search for inner values. In K. Weiermair &C. Mathies (Eds.), The tourism and leisure industry (pp. 173–180). New York:The Haworth Hospitality Press.

Rifkin, J. (2000). Access – Das Verschwinden des Eigentums [The disappearance ofproperty]. Frankfurt: Campus.

Scheurer, R. (2003). Erlebnis-setting – Touristische angebotsgestaltung in dererlebnisökonomie [Experience–setting — The staging of tourism supply in anexperience economy]. Bern: Forschungsinstitut für Freizeit und Tourismus(FIF) der Universität Bern.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014


Schmitt, B. (1999). Experiential marketing, How to get customers to sense, feel, think,act, and relate to your company and brands. New York: The Free Press.

Schulze, G. (2000). Die erlebnisgesellschaft - Kultursoziologie der Gegenwart[The experience society—Today’s cultural sociology]. Frankfurt: Campus.

Sparks, B. (2007). Planning a wine tourism vacation? Factors that help to predicttourist behavioural intentions. Tourism Management, 5, 1180–1192.

Tassiopoulos, D., Nuntsu, N., & Haydam, N. (2004). Wine tourists in South Africa: Ademographic and psychographic study. Journal of Wine Research, 15(1), 51–63.

Taylor J. (2001). Authenticity and sincerity in tourism. Annals of Tourism Research,28, 7–26.

TourMIS. (2007). Austrian national tourism office. Retrieved August 7, 2007, fromhttp://tourmis.wu-wien.ac.at/index_e.html

Van Boven, L., & Gilovich, T. (2003). To do or to have? That is the question.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 1193–1202.

Vigneron, F., & Johnson, L. W. (1999). A review and a conceptual framework ofprestige-seeking consumer behavior. Academy of Marketing Science Review,99, 1–15.

Wang, N. (1999). Rethinking authenticity in tourism experiences. Annals of TourismResearch, 26, 349–370.

Wargenau, A., & Che, D. (2006). Wine tourism development and marketing strategiesin Southwest Michigan. International Journal of Wine Marketing, 18(1), 45–60.

Weiermair, K. (2006). Nachfragesteuerung/Kapazitätsmanagement für attraktionen[Demand and capacity management for attractions]. In H. Pechlaner, Th. Bieger,& K. Weiermair (Eds.), Attraktionsmanagement: Führung und steuerung vonattraktionspunkten [Attraction management: Management and control of attrac-tion points] (pp. 85–99). Linde: Wien.

Williams, P., & Dossa, K. (2003). Non-resident wine tourist markets: Implications forBritish Columbia’s emerging wine tourism industry. In M. Hall (Ed.), Wine, foodand tourism marketing (pp. 1–34). New York: The Haworth Hospitality Press.

Williams, P., & Kelly, J. (2001). Cultural wine tourists: Product development consid-erations for British Columbia’s resident wine tourism market. InternationalJournal of Wine Marketing, 13(3), 59–76.

Williams, P. (2001). Positioning wine tourism destinations: An image analysis.International Journal of Wine Marketing, 13(3), 42–58.

Yuan, J., Cai, L. A., Morrison, A. M., & Linton, S. (2005). An analysis of wine festivalattendees’ motivations: A synergy of wine, travel and special events? Journal ofVacation Marketing, 11(1), 41–58.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

McM

aste

r U

nive

rsity

] at

08:

34 0

4 N

ovem

ber

2014

Documents

The Staging of Experiences in Wine Tourism