Wine Tourism: A Serious Leisure Approach

Abstract

Today wine tourism is emerging as an important component of rural diversification in North Carolina. Using Stebbins’ (1992) model of serious leisure as a guideline, the purpose of this study is to explore how wine tourism may be viewed as a type of serious leisure and to suggest a conceptual approach to the study of wine consumers in order to develop effective wine marketing strategies for local wineries in North Carolina. In addition, this study suggests an approach that small North Carolina wineries might use to identify various types of winery visitors and better position their products.