The emergence of a new wine tourism field

Abstract

This chapter deals with wine tourism in the making. From this example, we can learn about how new wine and innovations in wine tourism got their start and the conditions for the growth and diffusion of this emerging area of tourism. This chapter also describes and analyzes how entrepreneurs in the emergent field of modern fruit wine production in Denmark struggle to establish a new interest regime and how tourism has become a means to establishing that. This example of the development of new fruit wine demonstrates that wine tourism can emerge from areas outside of traditional tourism. To develop a business out of the new wine product, entrepreneurs need to market the new fruit wine; to this end, they need to create a new market and a new interest regime for it. Tourism events such as festivals and visits to wine producers are a means of reaching the market and creating the interest regime. For some winemakers, tourism has become a prominent element in their business. The diffusion process is difficult, and entrepreneurs can run into barriers. These include difficulties in creating a new interest regime and market and in finding the appropriate and innovative tourism elements with which to involve tourist organizations in marketing fruit wine. Entrepreneurs’ lack of interest and competencies in marketing their fruit wine and developing their fruit wine production into a viable business are also impediments.