Cultural Routes and Heritage Trails - Tourism and Trails: Cultural, Ecological and Management Issues - page 51

Gallenti and Galli (2002: 162) argue that wine trails can increase land
values, attract and retain a more highly qualified labor force, diversify regional
food supplies and create more employment opportunities. As well, wine
routes can help stimulate a healthy and competitive business environment
with increased direct sales rather than through wholesalers. Entrepreneurialism
might also be stimulated as new products are encouraged and diversification
is almost synonymous with trail development.
Wine routes can augment a destination's image and create a brand aware-
ness by adding a new tourism product and diversifying the tourist offer
(Gallenti & Galli, 2002; Telfer, 2001b). Part of the Niagara region's purpose
in developing wine routes was to get visitors to see beyond Niagara Falls,
namely that this part of Ontario had more to offer than only the falls
(Hashimoto & Telfer, 2003). Efforts in Israel are hinting at such a change.
In Israel there is a clear link between Biblical heritage and wine, and the
country is beginning to capitalize on this by forming wine routes for
Christian pilgrims that take them beyond the routine places of most itinerar-
ies (Jaffe & Pasternak, 2004; Ron & Timothy, 2013).
Wine routes also have several spin-off effects on other types of tourism.
Most of them include attractions other than those directly related to wine.
For instance, many take in ancillary activities such as hiking, heritage site
visits, shopping, arts and crafts, and golf (Correia et al. , 2004; Crnjanski,
1998; Gallenti & Galli, 2002). They also stimulate increased interest in festi-
vals and events tourism. Telfer (2001b: 24) described several important
events that brought increased visibility to the Niagara Wine Route. These
included star gazing, cheese celebrations, gardening, wine seminars, comedy
weekends, barbecues, helicopter and hot air balloon tours of vineyards, vine-
yard hikes, horseback riding, music festivals, and the like. These were inte-
gral parts of the wine route experience, but the wine route itself also
stimulated increased numbers of events.
An interesting case that illustrates several issues is the Bairrada Wine
Route (BWR) in Portugal. The BRW was established with the objectives
of increasing wine sales and improving the regional image (Brás et al. , 2010).
A study undertaken by Correia et al. (2004: 20) soon after the establishment
of the route highlights the reasons various wineries joined the trail and their
expectations from their membership. The majority (42%) of wineries sur-
veyed joined the BWR to enhance the reputation of the region's wines; the
primary purpose of 35% was to increase wine sales. Other important rea-
sons include partnering with other companies and creating a core group of
producers to protect the region's wines. Nearly three quarters (71%) of
participating wineries had to make major financial investments, such as
upgrading facilities (shops, display rooms, museums) in anticipation of
increased tourism. Despite these investments, few new employees were
hired. Instead, most operators transferred existing employees from produc-
tion to dealing with tourists. In the 2004 study, only 29% of route members