The profile of tourists in the wine region of
Velventos and the wine tourism motivations
Karpouza, Mariana
The wine tourism industry is a promising segment of the tourism sector and it has been growing grievously over the last decades. Despite Greece has a long tradition in winemaking, wine tourism is still in progress and it has started to flourish mostly because of the development of the Wine Routes. Nowadays, there are several wineries and vineyards that are available to the visitors throughout Greece. The primary motivating factors that lead to visit wineries, vineyards, wine festivals and shows are the grape wine tasting, the experiencing of participation in the wine activities as well as the need to learn more about the wines. However, according to “Push and Pull Theory”, a wine visitor can be also motivated by either internal-push factors or external- pull factors. Therefore, someone who participates in wine tourism seeks to satisfy either intrinsic needs or needs that are related to the wine activities. Notwithstanding, there is limited research about the attitudes, the demographic and socio-economic characteristics and the motivations about the Greek visitors who visit the wineries. This research was designed to identify the demographic characteristics of the visitors in the wine region of Velventos and the motivational factors that influence their decision to visit the wineries in order to sketch their profile. Gathering data from the questionnaires and collect information from the interviews aim to sketch the profile of the wine visitors. Emphasis should be given to the primary purpose of visiting the wine region and the real incentives that stimulate the tourists to go to the wineries.
