Analysis of the wine tourist in the designation of origin for Sherry (Spain)

Abstract

The current motivations of tourists is allowing the organization of
new products and destinations which strive to fulfill the recent
demands of travellers, who have placed a premium on not only the
sense of sight, but also many of the other senses as well. This is
permitting certain areas which were traditionally rural and
disconnected from typical tourism routes to contemplate
organizing tourism based on promoting novel products, which
respond to the new likes and dislikes of tourists, and is allowing
for the development of certain areas and the reconstruction of the
ever-important industrial fabric based on tourism in these zones
through the creation of different types of clusters centered in
tourism companies.
In this paper we present research centered on wine tourism,
specifically that which is Designation of Origin Jerez-Xérès-Sherry, in
Spain. This designation revolves around a wine route in which around
500,000 people visit these bodegas annually, making it the most
important wine route in Spain. To this end we present the results of
field work done with tourists inside the bodegas themselves where
the ideas and perceptions of these travellers are revealed to show the
primary motives and characteristics of their trip. The principal results
of the study suggest that the tourists are satisfied with the bodegas
they have visited, the importance of the relationship which exists
between local gastronomy and the growing interest which exists in
everything related to wine culture.