Wine tourism in the Côte Chalonnaise: An emerging destination

Abstract

Purpose: The paper provides an overview of the wine tourism offerings and wine tourism potential in the Côte Chalonnaise, in Burgundy, France. These issues are explored in the context of local contingencies and the exogenous forces which are being negotiated by wine stakeholders as they seek to establish new wine, and tourism, markets. Design/methodology/approach: At the core of this project is a series of thirty semi-structured interviews conducted between 2014 and 2017 with key wine stakeholders in the Côte D’Or and Côte Chalonnaise regions. These interviews are supported by participant observation, and content analysis of brochures, tourist guidebooks, and wine/tourism websites. Findings: Côte Chalonnaise is a peripheral region, in terms of both the reputation of its wines and tourist flows. The actions of local wine stakeholders – individually and collaboratively – have resulted in substantial development in wine tourism activities and attractions for visitors. The wine tourism offering in Côte Chalonnaise looks set to expand, given clear synergies between the needs of wine producers in this region to distribute their wines, and the requirement of wine tour guides to find small vignerons in Burgundy willing to receive visitors.