Overview

Wine and tourism are both products which are differentiated on the basis of regional identity. Wine is often identified by its geographical origin, e.g. Burgundy, Champagne, Rioja, which, in many cases, has been formalized through a series of appellation controls. Similarly, tourism is also promoted by the attraction of regional or local destinations. It should therefore be of little surprise that the relationship between wine and tourism is extremely significant at a regional level through the contribution that regionality provides for product branding, place promotion and, through these mechanisms, economic development. Both the wine and tourism industries rely on regional branding for market leverage and promotion (Fuller 1997; Hall and Macionis 1998; Hall et al. 1998). Tourism is fundamentally about the difference of place (Relph 1996), while wine is one of those rare commodities which is branded on the basis of its geographical origin (Merret and Whitwell 1994:174). Hall (1996: 114) describes the importance of tourism place and wine appellation or region thus: there is a direct impact on tourism in the identification of wine regions because of the inter-relationships that may exist in the overlap of wine and destination region promotion and the accompanying set of economic and social linkages .

Tourism has long been regarded as having the potential to contribute to regional development. However, in recent years, the desire to develop tourism products and attractions has had an increased sense of urgency in many countries, and in...