WINE TOURISM AS A CENTRIPETAL FORCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL TOURISM Marcel Meler, Ph. D., Full professor in tenure University of Osijek, Faculty of Economics in Osijek

ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe 3rd International Scientific Conference Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija Rural tourism as a selective form of tourism includes a number of activities, primarily various services and additional facilities which are provided by rural population for the purpose of attracting tourists, generating extra revenue on behalf of relating family businesses, raising the standard of living, decreasing the outflow of rural households, all on the principles of sustainable development and preservation of the existing natural resources. Rural tourism may, as its components and in the principle, involve agro-tourism, outdoor activities, ecotourism, wine tourism, cultural tourism, adventure tourism, excursion tourism and similar. 2

ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe 3rd International Scientific Conference Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija Wine tourism can be defined as visits to vineyard, wineries, wine festivals and wine events whereat wine tasting and acquisition of the knowledge on a particular vineyard represent primary motivating factors for the visitors. Wine tourism as a form of selective tourism is gaining more importance as a gradually more interesting component of the tourism product in the coastal and continental tourism of the Republic of Croatia, particularly from the standpoint of creating experience and atmosphere for tourists during their stay in a certain tourist destination. 3

ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe 3rd International Scientific Conference Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija The basic motivation to visit wine tourism destinations is generally wine tasting while other motifs include, for instance, acquisition/expansion of the knowledge on wine and appertaining production processes, gaining new experiences, introduction to wine and food pairing, purchase of wine and similar. Therefore, wine tourism should not be exclusively based on wine tasting and sales but it should be bound to the gastronomic, natural, cultural, historical, entertainment and other attractions of a concrete destination. This is what our wine tourism truly lacks and it reflects in a lack of stakeholders of destination management, the role of which should be taken over by destination management companies (DMC) and/or destination management organizations (DMO). 4

ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe 3rd International Scientific Conference Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija The link between wine and tourism arises from the nature of wine as a drink connected with pleasure, social gathering, food consumption, new experiences and hospitality. Moreover, there is a study suggesting that winery visitors spend on average 7.5 EUR on purchase of bulk wine, 10 EUR on purchase of bottled wine, 5 EUR on wine tasting and 10 EUR on food/meals 5

ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe 3rd International Scientific Conference Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija Wine tourism can be compatible with other forms of tourism if it appears as tourism of specific interests in popular regions. It can also be a fundamental primary centripetal force or an embryo of tourism development in wine-rich areas which are often popular tourist destinations as well. Wine tourism can be perceived from the viewpoint of interested parties, meaning from the viewpoint of wineries, consumers (tourists) and the tourist destination. 6

ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe 3rd International Scientific Conference Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija The advantages of wine tourism regarding wine producers are as follows: attracting visitors better understanding of the needs of wine consumers/visitors promotion of direct sales with a higher margin brand promotion prompt and comprehensive testing of new wine brands diversification of the wine consumers’ profile public relations cross-selling possibility of educating visitors approaching wine consumers. 7

ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe 3rd International Scientific Conference Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija The flaws of wine tourism concerning wine producers are as follows: investment of financial resources in equipping wine tasting shops and additional facilities emergence of extra costs, particularly if wine tasting is free of charge wasting time on conducting some other activities or employment of necessary staff which results in a cost increase possible infeasibility due to a small quantity of sold wine. 8

ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe 3rd International Scientific Conference Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija The advantages of wine tourism considering wine consumers are as follows: visitors can communicate in person with grape growers or winemakers getting familiar with the wine production process visiting the tourist attractions of a destination sharing the acquired experience with others. On the other hand, the flaws of wine tourism with respect to wine consumers do not actually exist. 9

ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe 3rd International Scientific Conference Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija The advantages of wine tourism regarding relating tourist destinations are as follows: valorisation of the natural and social attractions of a particular tourist destination contribution to the development basis of a particular tourist destination full integration of the tourism product of a concrete tourist destination. 10

ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe 3rd International Scientific Conference Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija Wine tasting shops or wineries-wine cellars occur to be a significant wine distribution channel, particularly within the framework of wine routes or broadly speaking, within wine tourism. A wine tasting shop/winery-wine cellar is a facility in which not more than 50 guests at a time are offered and served with wine and/or fruit wine and/or products made from wine and/or fruit wine and/or other alcohol drinks and/or cold plates (smoked sausages, cheese and similar) which are paired with the said drinks and/or spreads. On the other hand, wine route is a special form of selling agricultural, catering and tourism products of a certain wine-rich area in which family farms and other natural persons and legal entities associated under the joint name – wine routes offer their products, especially wine, homemade beverages and other homemade specialties. 11

ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe 3rd International Scientific Conference Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija Together with gastronomy, wine tourism represents one of the relevant strategic guidelines of the tourism development in the Republic of Croatia. Likewise, gastronomy and oenology are represented as products with a distinctive development perspective in the Tourism Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia until the Year

ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe 3rd International Scientific Conference Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija Considering that Croatia can really be proud of its high quality wine and gastronomic offer dispersed throughout the whole country, it is to be expected that this form of tourism gains momentum and experiences a rapid growth in the future. This assertion is supported by the fact that the European wine tourism brings about app. 700,000 international travels per year. It should also be stressed that the annual revenue received from wine and gastronomic businesses in Europe reaches 900 million EUR, the daily consumption ranges from 150 to 450 EUR per person and the average rise of the number of international travels ranges from 7 to 12 %, which certainly represents a great challenge for the Republic of Croatia to bravely attack this undoubtedly promising niche tourism market in a near future. 13

ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe 3rd International Scientific Conference Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija CONCLUSION As far as the tourism in a concrete destination is concerned, wine can be its component with a strong centripetal force in the sense of attracting interested tourist segments within a country and worldwide. The centripetal force of such destinations may, if the destinations are managed in compliance with the rules of contemporary marketing and management, be vastly gaining its intensity towards their epicentre according to the principle of concentric circles, but it cannot greatly weaken by moving away from the epicentre. Anyway, stressing their main advantages and eliminating or mitigating their main obstacles, the Croatian wine and gastronomic tourism may reach a level they both deserve and contribute to the development of the Croatian tourism in general, particularly with respect to high season extension on one hand and increase in the consumption of Croatian wines on the other hand. 14

Thank you for your attention!