Abstract
This study aims to understand some of the main trends in rural tourism and wine sensorial experience. The research study brings together a proposed conceptual model to understand some of the main determinants of rural tourism demand and wine tourism experience. The rural tourism product is a complex reality where there are numerous demographic and functional variants that contribute to its definition and that result in various types of accommodation and experiences. In specific, wine tourism as the intersection between tourist and winemaking activities has been a much explored theme, nationally and internationally, by the scientific community, which has boosted scientific investigation about this issue. The present study represents an important contribution in relation to the rural management of tourist destinations and the development of the relationship with the consumer. From an interdisciplinary perspective, the manuscript presents preliminary insights for rural tourism, but particularly in the context of winemaking experience.
TopIntroduction
Tourism, as an area of research, has expanded its scope, reflecting a growing recognition in the academic community, parallel to the application of interdisciplinary concepts and methods (Sousa et al., 2023). In fact, tourism research has studied its various implications from a multitude of perspectives and with interdisciplinary perceptions (Aliperti et al., 2019; Okumus et al., 2018; Franch et al., 2008). For instance, niche tourism can be considered an alternative, almost the antithesis of modern mass tourism (for example, rural tourism products or services (Liu, Dou & Cai, 2020). In this context, for instance, the rural tourism product is a complex reality where there are numerous demographic and functional variants that contribute to its definition and that result in various types of accommodation and experiences (Machado et al., 2021). For instance, Santos et al. (2022) argues that wine tourism as the intersection between tourist and winemaking activities has been a much explored theme, nationally and internationally, by the scientific community, which has boosted scientific investigation about this issue. This phenomenon is due to the potential that wine tourism has as a destination and a product, not only as an offer, but as something people are looking for. For instance, wine tourism has evolved in recent decades due to several factors, such as the increasing competitiveness between wine-producing destinations. Wine tourists undoubtedly seek appealing, exclusive, and memorable wine sensory impressions in the wine tourism settings. Wine potentiates a combination of multisensory experiences when tourists engaged in a wine tourism activity (Martins et al., 2017).
Therefore, this chapter develops the existing research since it discusses the growing phenomena of rural tourism and wine experience with a relationship marketing perspective. Based on the literature review, we propose a model that connects the dimensions of relationship marketing. The proposed research model not only has implications for future research, but also provides useful information for practitioners in the wine tourism. Based on this discussion, we propose that, in a context of wine tourism, the increase in trust, cooperation and commitment facilitates the development of behavioural satisfaction and loyalty.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Green Consumer: It is a form of consumption that is compatible with the safeguard of the environment for the present and for the next generations.
Sensescapes: Sensory experience of the environment.
Experiencescapes: The purposeful places where experiences are produced, staged, and consumed by diverse groups in tourism industry
Green Marketing: It is the process of selling products and/or services based on their environmental benefits. Such a product or service may be environmentally friendly in itself or produced in an environmentally
Wine Tourism: visitation to vineyards, wineries, wine festivals and wine shows for which grape wine tasting and/or experiencing the attributes of a grape wine region are the prime motivating factor for visitors.
Rural Tourism: a type of tourism activity in which the visitor’s experience is related to a wide range of products generally linked to nature-based activities, agriculture, rural lifestyle / culture, angling and sightseeing.
Social media: Social media are interactive computer-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks.