Pairing Co-Creation with Food and Wine Experiences—A Holistic Perspective of Tourist Experiences in Dão, a Portuguese Wine Region

Abstract

The literature increasingly recognises the value of food and wine tourism for destinations’ competitiveness. Given the scarcity of conceptual and empirical studies on co-creation within this field of special interest tourism, this paper aims to enhance the understanding of how visitors and supply agents co-create value in food and wine experiences, by analysing such experiences in the Portuguese wine region Dão. For this purpose, a qualitative study was undertaken, analysing visitors’ and tourism agents’ perceptions regarding five food and wine experiences: food and wine pairing, wine tasting with food pairing, harvesting, a culinary workshop and a wine workshop. The discourse obtained via in-depth semi-structured interviews from sixteen visitors and three supply agents was content analysed, supported by QSR NVivo 12. The results show that dimensions of the conceptually defined co-creation experience were, indeed, perceived in the visitors’ discourse, namely interaction (the most prominent in wine tasting and harvesting), active participation, engagement and personalization (the latter least reported). Sensorial engagement emerged from the discourse as an additional dimension that deserved attention. The agents’ perspective confirmed the importance of these dimensions in experience design. This paper identifies theoretical and managerial contributions for destination management organisations, wine tourism agents and marketers, as well as relevant paths for future research in this field.

Wine tourism in rural areas – hopes and fears amongst local residents

“…For regional tourism developers this may suggest the need for better integration of these groups in sustainable tourism development, helping to ensure that they benefit from it, while encouraging them to interact with visitors. In so doing, this will help to develop new forms of social interaction that may help communities to preserve and sustain their identity and overcome any sense of rural isolation (Carvalho et al , 2021; Figueiredo et al , 2014). In this context, further analysis could be conducted in the future using other type of sociodemographic variables.…”

“…Thus, rural tourism development should benefit from social interaction opportunities with the local community. Additionally, the involvement of local people in tourist experiences is often appreciated because it is more “authentic” and memorable (Carvalho et al , 2021). Residents of rural areas may be considered “cultural brokers”, helping visitors to enter local culture, learn about and enjoy its specificities and uniqueness and in so doing, make it more “authentic” and valuable to the visiting tourist (Kastenholz et al , 2018).…”

“…Residents of rural areas may be considered “cultural brokers”, helping visitors to enter local culture, learn about and enjoy its specificities and uniqueness and in so doing, make it more “authentic” and valuable to the visiting tourist (Kastenholz et al , 2018). Thus, they may actively co-create value with tourists based on or related to local resources like food and wine, resulting in appealing, distinctive and enjoyable experiences for all involved (Carvalho et al , 2021).…”

“…As a matter of fact, terroir wine tourism associated with wine production in a specific viticulture/terroir context (wine tourism may also be located in urban areas, e.g. the Porto wine cellars), can be considered a type of rural tourism (Cunha et al , 2020; Holland et al , 2014; Sheridan et al , 2009), where wine stands out as a unique, endogenous resource, complementing other regional attractions that appeal to both wine lovers and other tourists interested in distinct experiences (Carvalho et al , 2021), thus enhancing tourism development in rural areas.…”

“…Arguably, the most important stakeholder group in rural tourism is the local community, whose hospitality is highly appreciated by tourists and thus the relevance of the social dimension of sustainability is important. Moreover, their involvement in experience co-creation can add substantial value and authenticity to tourist experience proposals (Carvalho et al , 2021). It is therefore crucial to understand residents' perceptions of tourism impacts and their attitudes towards tourism as one means of assessing sustainability in rural tourism, and of understanding and strengthening the potential contribution of residents to tourism development (Sharpley, 2014).…”