Development of a best practice manual in wine tourism in Portugal

Abstract

Portugal has become a popular tourist destination in the recent years, encouraging the development of wine tourism. With increased demand and greater competition among wineries, managers must enhance wine tourism experiences to attract high-value customers in order to make wine tourism profitable and sustainable. One option is to have an appropriate set of standards to implement best practices in service, hospitality and overall experience. This research paper focuses on the development of a knowledge tool, in the form of a best practice manual. With the support of ViniPortugal, an inter-professional organization dedicated to promoting Portuguese wines, 63 wineries were selected to participate in this project, of which 47 confirmed their participation and provided the basis for the project findings. This paper will show the development behind a comprehensive best practice manual, based on literary theory, research, and real life evidence in wine tourism experiences in Portugal. The framework used for the best practice manual was an adaptation of the Knowledge-To-Action framework [1], which is divided into two sections, Knowledge Creation and Action Cycle. The project methodology is based on the Knowledge Creation format as follows: knowledge inquiry, knowledge synthesis and finally knowledge tool. By accumulating knowledge from different sources, the finished manual will be a powerful tool that provides management with practices, standards, and protocols in all areas of the wine tourism offer. The application, limitations and future use of the best practice manual are also discussed.