Wine Tourism Experiences and Marketing: The Case of the Douro Valley in Portugal

Wine tourism is considered a crucial element for the tourism industry and for the sector of viniculture and wine industry. In this context, wine-producing regions increasingly seek ways of providing value-added experiences to visitors in order to develop the destination and possibly gain a competitive advantage over its competitors. Wine tourism experiences alongside the increasing usage of social media are critical for the development of wine tourism and destinations. Based on a survey questionnaire, interview, and on online visitors’ reviews on social media platforms, namely TripAdvisor and Facebook, the main aim of this exploratory study is to evaluate visitors’ wine tourism experience in the Douro Valley of Portugal. This wine-producing region is a significant wine tourism destination located in the North of Portugal and is mainly known as the place of origin of the port wine and as the first demarcated and regulated wine-producing region in the world. The main contributions of this chapter are to provide insights into visitors’ behaviour and evaluation about their wine-related experiences, and to present recommendations that can increase the interest of tourists and improve wine tourism experiences, and ultimately contribute positively to the development of the wine tourism destination.