Wellington as a developing South African wine tourism destination

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The focus of this thesis is the Wellington Wine District as a developing South African wine tourismdestination. It is a newly designated wine district (March 2012) and an exploratory research study wasundertaken to determine what the Brand 'DNA' of the Wellington Wine District is and then to proposeappropriate marketing strategies for the developing wine tourism destination.The research process focussed on two types of wine tourism behaviour, namely festival-goers at theWellington Wine Harvest Festival and the visitors to selected Wellington Wine Route members' cellardoors. Surveys were executed by means of interviews and self-administration of structured questionnaires.Results were analysed in terms of two categories: first time visitors (FTV) and repeat visitors (RV). Thefindings revealed that at the Wellington Wine Harvest Festival visitors came in groups of 2 to 4, they heardabout the festival from friends, the RV were high (93%), the visitors brought their young children alongand the main reason for attending the festival was because both FTV and RV enjoy drinking wine. Thefindings of the cellar door survey showed that a high percentage (93%) of visitors were repeat visitors; thatmost visitors live within a radius of 100km of the wine district; that visitors are younger people withoutchildren; and that word-of-mouth references and 'enjoy a tasting experience' were the main reasons to visitthe cellar door. These visitors overall have a good (self-assigned) wine knowledge.The proposed marketing strategies are based on the 7 Brand 'DNA' elements which could be determinedfrom the results: 1. Scenery that includes the nature (fynbos), the mountains and the beautiful vineyards.2. The Wellington Wine District is seen as rural and off the beaten track.3. The environment is untouched and unspoiled.4. Wellington inhabitants are welcoming, friendly, decent and warm.5. Wine quality is good, wine is affordable and there is a wide variety available.6. Red wine is seen as excellent wine with great quality.7. All year round, the weather in Wellington is acceptable.Marketing strategy proposals take into account the obvious importance of the winescape and itspreservation, the age group of visitors as the target market, the different consumer needs in terms of afestival and cellar door visitation, as well as the fact that friends and family and word-of-mouth are theprimary sources of information.This study contributes to the knowledge pool of information on wine tourist behaviour in South Africa. Ithas broadened the field of information on the wine marketing strategies that a developing wine district canimplement based on the destination Brand 'DNA'. The research findings are limited in that the study wasexploratory in nature and undertaken in the low season. It is recommended that the research study berepeated in the future as the wine district grows as a destination. Greater understanding of the specificleisure needs and expectations of the visitors is required.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University