WineTourisminAustralia

曾真

1.Introduction

Wine tourism is now recognised as a growing subset of special interest tourism all over the world.It is an increasingly important tourism component for many wine producing regions （M.A.O'Neill & Palmer，2004）.Australia has recently become a large wine producing country.Therefore，wine tourism has emerged as a strong and growing area in Australia.The focus in this paper is to examine wine tourism in Australia.First，the development of wine tourism in Australia will be highlighted，followed by an examination of the principal and emerging markets for this sector.Second，the future development will be analysed.Finally，a logic conclusion will be given.

2.Development of wine tourism in Australia

Wine tourism can be defined as“visitation to vineyards，wineries，wine festivals and wine shows for which grape wine tasting and/or experiencing the attributes of a grape wine region are the prime motivating factors for visitors”（Hall，Cambourne，Macionis，& Johnson，1997，p.6 as cited in Hall，1996；Macionis，1996）.The focus on wine tourism development began in Australia in the late 1990s and during that time，it achieved high levels of growth（Beames，2003）.The first Australian national wine tourism conference was held at the Margaret River region of Western Australia in 1998.The first official development programme for national wine tourism was released in the white paper in 1999.Furthermore，the National Wine Centre was opened in Adelaide in 2000（Beames，2003）.Wine tourism in Australia has shown a strong growth trend.

3.Principal and emerging markets

A tourists.survey which was conducted in the Western Australia indicates that at present，the principal market for this sector is the Australian tourists（over 88.7%）.These people are positioned in a well-educated customer base.They are managerial and professional，and have abundant knowledge of wine and wine tourism.Moreover，the survey shows a small number of visitors are from overseas and indicates their strong interests in visiting wineries（M.A.O'Neill & Palmer，2004）.Meanwhile，Hall，Cambourne，Macionis，and Johnson（1997）stated that the number of international visitors who visited wineries during their stay in Australia in 1994 increased to 20%.And the ATC has also estimated that between 8 and 10 million overseas visitors will be arriving within ten years（Beames，2003）.The international market provides huge potential as an emerging market for Australian wine tourism.

4.Future development

As mentioned，the international market will be the emerging marketing for Australian wine tourism，thus，an effective marketing strategy should be built and implemented in the future in order to create awareness and interest among this market.For the management issues，the service people at the cellar door should be well selected and trained through standardised programs in order to keep high and consistent service quality.Developers must also create new products，not only to build cellar door sales，but to provide an overall ‘experience for tourists.The new products could be the development of resort style facilities which can portray the wine region as a holiday destination，and development of special programs and festivals，such as wine education programmes，wine festivals and food festivals（Beames，2003）.The combined product will be more attractive than only cellar door sales.Moreover，government could better direct its efforts into more specific aspects，such as encouraging infrastructure development and inter-industry coordination，developing standards and working to ensure an integrated national approach（Beames，2003）.

5.Conclusion

This paper has given a broad view of the development of wine tourism in Australia.Throughout its development，Australian wine tourism has been seen as a young tourism sector with optimistic growth and expectations.Currently the main market for this sector in Australia is the Australian tourists，but the growing international market has been identified as a huge emerging market in the future.For the future development，the developer should create an overall‘experienceand new products to attract tourists.Additionally，the continuing support，assistance and regulation from government still will be crucial for the whole industry in the long term.

References：

[1]Beames，G.（2003）.The Rock，the Reef and the grape：The challenges of developing wine tourism in regional Australia.Journal of Vacation Marketing，9（3），205-212.

[2]Hall，C.M.Cambourne，B.Macionis，N.，& Johnson，G.（1997）.Wine Tourism and Network Development in Australia and New Zealand：Review，Establishment and Prospects.International Journal of Wine Marketing，9（2/3），5-31.

[3]O'Neill，M.A.& Palmer，A.（2004）.Wine Production and Tourism： Adding Service to a Perfect Partnership.Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly，45（3），269-284.