The Challenges of Integrating Sustainable Wine-Growing Into Wine Tourism – Examples from Slovenia and Abroad

Abstract

Abstract In an increasingly competitive tourist market, wine and enogastronomy are becoming key elements in the development of tourist products in regions that cultivate grapevines, in Slovenia and internationally. It has been claimed that no kind of tourism can develop in regions without wine; however, from today’s perspective, this claim seems an exaggeration. Nevertheless, enogastronomy is an integral part of many contemporary tourist products. As such, it combines tradition, history and heritage and also improves the recognisability of a given destination on which modern wine tourism products rest. On a global scale, wine tourism is growing, and the forecast for the future is likewise promising. The essence of a wine tourism product is to connect food and wine, i.e. enogastronomic or culinary experiences, and to follow new trends. The trend is to consolidate this segment of tourism services, in particular through leisure activities and relaxation at the destination of choice. Food and wine thus become part of the cultural experience of the visited destination and equal the experience of visiting a museum or a concert or can be an equal component of such a package.