Abstract
This study develops a scale to measure wine tourism experiences and was tested in Portugal, in two of the main wine tourism centres: Porto and Madeira. The wine experience scale combines experience traits with the traditional approach to scales related to wine tourism. The development of the scale follows the most recognised validated procedures. Data were collected from a total of 647 international wine tourists in the wine cellars of the two main fortified wine tourism regions visiting areas: Porto and Madeira. Structural equation modelling (SEM-AMOS) was used as the main analysis and validation tool. The resulting 18-item wine experience scale comprises four major dimensions: (1) Wine storytelling, (2) wine tasting excitement, (3) wine involvement, and (4) winescape. All these showed reliable and validated indicators. This new scale presents a valid new tool to better measure and evaluate experiences in a wine tourism setting. This study offers a broad range of use for academics, managers, planners, and practitioners. It shows how a new measurement tool focused on the wine tourism experience in terms of several outcomes and applications, addressing important practical managerial implications, can have an impact on academic research. Most previous tourism scales still fail to measure the specifics of wine settings. This is the first scale that comprises the dimensions of experience with wine senses, applied in a relevant wine destination where research is still limited. The results are relevant in boosting the increasingly recognized awareness of Portugal as wine tourism, as well as bringing experience scales to the body of knowledge.
Highlights
Portugal is recognised as a wine tourism destination and has growth potential
The process resulted in 18 modified measurement items, classified into four categories: Wine tasting excitement, winescape, wine storytelling, and wine involvement (Table 1)
This was applied in two different environments and with both national and international wine tourists
Summary
Portugal is recognised as a wine tourism destination and has growth potential. In 2019, the tourism revenue contributed 8.7% of the national GDP, with an increase of 8.1% in tourism revenue growth [1,2]. The history of Madeira wine is at least 200 years old, vines had been planted since the fifteenth century by order of Henry the Navigator. This makes these two wine regions the most historically significant regions for fortified wines in Portugal, and globally. They are both fortified wines, which means that they are wines to which brandy was added during its winemaking process, normally for conservation and strengthening purposes. The Porto wine, after some years of declining sales, had, in 2019, an overall increase in sales of 2.5% in volume, in value it decreased −1.5%. This wine had its best year ever in 2018 with over 19.2 million € in value, but with a decrease of −2.9% in value and −6% in volume already in 2019 [6]
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