Build sustainable stakeholders’ interactions around wine tourism. A methodological approach for Douro region.

Abstract

Wine tourism represents a complex ecosystem, covering various fields of research, stakeholders’ interests, wine & food landscapes, territorial & cultural policies and business strategies. To enhance a sustainable rural wine tourism experience, all players must be synchronized with the territory development potentialities. The study focus on Douro territory (North of Portugal), the first wine region in the world to be demarcated and regulated (1756) and more recently, in 2001, due to its strong cultural identity, the Alto Douro Vinhateiro was classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. This work started with a systematic literature review aiming to recognize different wine tourism sector angles and to identify best practices that could encourage responsible behaviour among all stakeholders to guarantee a balanced approach between business competitiveness and regional development. The survey revealed a suitable “Stakeholder Analysis (SA)” (Schmeer, 1999) whose guidelines we proposed to replicable for the Douro wine tourism sector. To assure a sustainable Douro Wine Tourism sector, all stakeholders must balance their own business goals and agendas with the territory development vision and adopt business cooperation strategies in order to generating benefits for all involved players.