Abstract
Wine tourism has been widely developed and researched worldwide. However, previous research predominantly focused on wine tourist behaviors or regional development issues, with limited research assessing from the host community’s perspective. Understanding and involving the host community is fundamental to gaining community support for tourism development and essential for the success and sustainability of tourism endeavors. Therefore, a study was conducted examining residents’ attitudes toward wine tourism development and communities’ wine tourism–related social capital in North Carolina. The influence of other factors (e.g., demographics, wine involvement) on residents’ attitudes and wine tourism–related social capital were also explored. A total of 663 households from communities along two wine trails were randomly surveyed. Results indicated that residents were neutral in their attitudes toward local wineries with regards to personal benefits and community impacts and that the region has not yet fully developed wine tourism–related social capital. Residents’ sociodemographics and visit frequency to local wineries were significantly associated with their perceived personal benefits and community impacts and the wine tourism–related social capital. Study findings highlight practical implications for wineries to spread benefits and bond with surrounding communities, especially in regions at the inception stage of wine tourism development.
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