Wine Tourism in the Valencian Community: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Wine tourism is increasingly considered as a strategic element in the wine producing countries of the Old World. In the case of Spain, several researchers have studied the role of wine routes in boosting the competitiveness of a territory, increasing wine production, improving the quality of life of citizens and the respect for the environment. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no previous studies that have analyzed in a unified way the wine routes of the Region of Valencia, that is, the wine routes of Alicante and Utiel-Requena. To overcome this research gap, the study comparably analyzes these wine routes in terms of attracting wine tourists and the economic impact generated in the period 2017-2021, also relativizing the data to the average of the total Spanish wine routes. The results of the research show that both routes attract a lower number of wine tourists than the average of the Spanish wine routes. In addition, it should be noted that the Utiel-Requena route generated a higher economic impact compared to the Alicante wine route between 2017-2019, with this trend reversing in 2019. This study, therefore, contributes to the improvement of scientific knowledge in several ways, given that, first, the research provides new knowledge in the field of wine tourism in Spain and, second, there are no previous studies that have analyzed in a unified way the wine routes in the Region of Valencia.