Wine Tourism Development: Life Cycles of Wine Routes, Wine Resorts and Lifestyles in the Cape Winelands

Abstract

In the Cape Winelands, viticulture-related activities have grown into the second-most important tourism experience for international visitors to the country. The Stellenbosch wine route (SWR) is the oldest and the most developed wine route in South Africa. This chapter unfolds through five sections. First, the literature on the theoretical underpinnings is reviewed. Second, the mixed-method research approach is introduced. Third, the factors enhancing the winescapes of the Western Cape in general and the Stellenbosch region in particular, are described. Fourth, the SWR’s mature life cycle phase is analysed using Miossec’s ideas on the differential development (or hierarchical manifestation) of certain winery nodes. Fifth, a human dimension of the Stellenbosch winescape is explored in which high net worth (HNW) individuals invest in lifestyle farms or settle in exclusive wine and golf estates. The study reveals that SWR’s product offerings have been diversified and multiplied to attract well-heeled tourists to elegant hotels and lodges as well as top-class restaurants that exploit the use of the winescape ambiance and magnificent scenery to their advantage. The challenges now facing the route, which has reached its mature life cycle phase, is to ensure ongoing innovation of its product portfolio to maintain the status quo and to rejuvenate its life cycle.