Abstract
The certification of Malaga and Ronda wine route, within the model of certified wine routes in Spain, has given a new boost to wine tourism in Malaga. The study focuses on La Axarquía, located on the Eastern Costa del Sol in Southern Spain, which has been a reference point in the wine business since ancient times and has its own identity. This research aims at elaborating a diagnosis of the territory related to the possibilities offered by the area, from the perspective of the heritage resources and services provided by the winemakers outlining two efficient enotourism itineraries that enhance the value of the territory’s resources. The methodology used starts with the study of the territory in order to profile the existing resources, a task that was complemented by the analysis of the documentary sources required in order to understand the peculiarities of the territory. From there, a process of interviews was carried out between April and November 2019 with 100% of the winemakers and around 70% of the territory’s agents. The results of the research are specified in a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis, which has allowed evaluating the possibilities of the enotourist development in La Axarquía, which is complemented with a proposal of two possible itineraries that will promote such development of the rural territory. The conclusions convey the possibilities of the territory of a tourist segment which puts its resources to good use and moves forward the deseasonalization and destructuring of tourism in Malaga, especially on the Eastern Costa del Sol, according to criteria of efficiency and profitability with wine as a reference, although it could be applied to other gastronomic and cultural resources linked to the tourist sector in other geographical areas.
Highlights
Wine tourism has a special impact on rural economies (López-Guzmán et al 2009)as it involves activities in wineries, events, as well as different hospitality activities (Carlsen and Charters 2006)
If we consider the value of wine tourism, Italy was estimated at 2.5 billion euros with 14 million tourists (MTV 2020); France accumulated more than 10 million wine tourists who accounted for 5.2 billion euros for the sector (Saybus 2020)
The development of wine tourism has grown and in many countries it has been due to wine routes, which can be defined ashas a set of duly marked itineraries that through
Summary
Wine tourism has a special impact on rural economies (López-Guzmán et al 2009)as it involves activities in wineries, events, as well as different hospitality activities (Carlsen and Charters 2006). If we consider the value of wine tourism, Italy was estimated at 2.5 billion euros with 14 million tourists (MTV 2020); France accumulated more than 10 million wine tourists who accounted for 5.2 billion euros for the sector (Saybus 2020). The development of wine tourism has grown and in many countries it has been due to wine routes, which can be defined ashas a set of duly marked itineraries that through. The development of wine tourism grown and in many countries it pass has been duea geographical areabewith a wine an marked essentialitineraries issue if wethat take intothrough account tospecific wine routes, which can defined as atradition, set of duly pass theygeographical can be the reason for choosing a destination (Michael Hall 2013).
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