Are travellers interested in wine tourism in New Zealand?

Purpose - While much of contemporary wine tourism research focuses on on-site winery visitors, little is reported on the level of wine tourism participation among travellers outside the winery who may not necessarily be winery visitors or wine enthusiasts. This study investigates this dimension from the perspective of travellers. Design/methodology/approach - Between October and November of 2006, a total of 998 questionnaires were distributed among travellers from the North to the South Island of New Zealand. In all, 500 travellers participated in the study, a 50.1 percent response rate. Findings - One critical finding of this study is that while winery visitation appears common among domestic travellers, for the majority of international visitors lack of knowledge of New Zealand wines and wineries is their main reason not to visit wineries while members of this group travel in New Zealand. Research limitations/implications - The potential limitations of choosing a predominantly quantitative approach, as well as choosing specific days of the week for the questionnaire distribution are acknowledged in this study. Practical implications - The overall results suggest that if wine tourism is to continue its present development in New Zealand, winery operators and the wine industry need to address several issues identified in this study, particularly overseas travellers' apparent lack of knowledge about New Zealand's wine and wine tourism. Originality/value - This study examines wine tourism from a different perspective, namely, that of travellers who might not necessarily fall under the wine tourist category. This dimension has been ignored for the most part in previous wine tourism research. The study also provides avenues for future research to further explore this dimension of tourism/wine tourism.