Market segmentation in wine tourism: strategies for wineries and destinations in Spain

Abstract

Although Spain is a traditional wine-producing area, there is little research on its wine tourism segmentation in comparison to that carried out in New World countries. The main aim of this paper is to identify the different segments of wine tourists that visit Spanish wineries. This research makes a theoretical and practical contribution to both the literature on the segmentation of wine tourists and segmentation techniques. The empirical analysis was carried out in the five Spanish denominations of origin with the largest market shares (Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Navarra, Rueda and La Mancha) and was based on a survey of 598 tourists. The latent class segmentation technique was used for the analysis, and four segments of wine tourists were obtained according to subjective and objective variables. This paper demonstrates how the a posteriori technique of segmentation can be applied in wine tourism research. The findings may provide the managers of wineries and destination management organizations with an important instrument when making strategic decisions.

Keywords:

• wine tourism
• latent class segmentation
• tourists
• wineries
• Spain

Additional information

Funding

The authors wish to thank the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for the financial support provided for this research under the 2012 Call for R&D projects (Project reference number: ECO2012–31300).