Wine web 2.0: digital communication and tourist netnography. Opportunities for new entrepreneurship

Abstract

Purpose of the paper : The paper aims to examine online communication of wine tourism destinations and their users in order to identify strategic approaches potentially suitable for the development of: 1. new web communication formats; 2. innovative entrepreneurial formulae that meet the expectations of increasingly demanding and expert customers. Methodology : These aims are pursued by means of various methods: - official wine tourism destination websites were investigated with the use of the text mining technique; - wine tourists’ online discussions were analysed with the use of text mining and the results were netnographically investigated. Findings : The analysis enables the search for information, which aims to: a) identify the most frequently used keyword and thematic messages by official wine tourism destination websites; b) profile wine tourists who speak of wine tourism destinations under study. Research limitation : The two main limitations of the study are: (i) the analysis has been conducted only on the wine destination websites, which are less interactive than social networks; and (ii) the netnographic approach used is of the observational kind and thus doesn’t provide any interaction with wine tourists themselves. Research and managerial implications : In managerial terms, the results of the analysis of user-generated content can be used to (re)direct communicational strategies and develop a more innovative and personalised tourist offer. Originality/value of paper : The originality of the research lies in the application of research methods that enable interesting research hypotheses, although they are still infrequently used in tourism marketing studies.