• to sustain and create local incomes, employment, and growth;
• to contribute to the costs of providing economic and social
infrastructure (e.g., roads, water, sewage, and communication);
• to encourage the development of other industrial sectors (e.g.,
through local purchasing links);
• to contribute to local resident amenities (e.g., sports and
recreation facilities, outdoor recreation opportunities, and arts
and culture) and services (e.g., shops, post offices, schools, and
public transport); and
• to contribute to the conservation of environmental and cul-
tural resources, especially as scenic (aesthetic) urban and rural
surroundings are primary tourist attractions.
Wine tourism has the capacity to play a significant role in national and
regional sustainable-tourism-development plans through its contri-
bution to sustaining the economic and social bases of regions, as well
as environmental dimensions. Wine-related tourism is a significant
factor in sustainable rural development, most obviously through the
creation of jobs and the sale of local merchandise. Wineries are the
archetypal small business in rural economies, where small-scale busi-
nesses, which are affected most by the effects of economic restruc-
turing, dominate. From the perspective of economic sustainability,
wine tourism can be the core business for many smaller wineries,
especially those who have chosen winemaking as a lifestyle option.
Newly established wineries sell most of their wine at the cellar door
and gain an essential source of cash flow in these early stages. For
established wineries, visitors provide a test bed for new products.
Wine tourism also facilitates producer–consumer interaction and
involves education about and experience of wine products and wine
regions—including local cultures and winescapes. Viticulture also has
the capacity to provide sustainable land use in previously uneconom-
ic areas, while tourism can help support the viability of land diversifi-
cation and maximize the returns on existing viticulture.
While heritage tourism, along with ecotourism, often has been seen
as one the cornerstones of sustainable tourism and rural develop-
ment, it has the disadvantage of often being based on fossilized or
even falsified traditional culture (Swarbrooke, 1996). In La Rioja,
Spain, the objective of the European Union and the regional tourism
board is to “manage tourists in a balanced and sustainable way in
order to improve the economy and the social life” of the region
(Nitsch & van Straaten, 1995, p. 174). In the action program devel-
oped for the region, wine and gastronomy were identified as one of
five types of tourism central to stimulating sustainable tourism
Wine Tourism in the Mediterranean
449
Thunderbird International Business Review • July–August 2000
From the per-
spective of eco-
nomic sustain-
ability, wine
tourism can be
the core business
for many smaller
wineries…