Environmental attitudes towards wine tourism

Christopher Taylor¹, Nelson Barber², Cynthia Deale³

¹School of Business, Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, Roosevelt County, NM, USA; ²Whittemore School of Business, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA; ³Department of Hospitality Management, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC , USA

Abstract: Wine tourism marketers frequently seek new ways to promote destinations, often executing ecologically sustainable practices. As consumer environmental knowledge of a wine tourism destination increases, consumer attitudes change, influencing perceptions of the environmental policies of a wine region. In this consumer-driven economy, it is therefore important to search for effective ways to market destinations, and one approach is selective marketing. By focusing on consumers in this manner, it is possible to understand better their concerns and motivations, which should aid in marketing and advertising efforts. This study investigated wine consumers environmental concerns and attitudes about wine regions. Results suggest environmental attitudes differed by demographics regarding the impact of wine tourism, providing ideas on further marketing efforts for those involved in wine tourism.

Keywords: sustainable wine tourism, green products, wine marketing, consumers