Wine tourism and research surrounding it has developed substantially over the last 15
years. The importance for wineries of visitation to cellar doors is recognised by both
the tourism and wine industries (Carlsen and Charters, 2006; Mitchell and Hall, 2006)
and the need to understand the expectations and experiences of wine tourists has
driven much of the research that has been conducted. Ensuring a match between
expectations and experience of the cellar door will affect not only the tourists‟
satisfaction with the experience but their emotional attachments to the brand and, by
implication, their future purchase intentions (Dodd and Bigotte, 1997). It is important
to note, however, that wine tourists are not a homogeneous grouping (Charters and
Ali-Knight, 2002; Mitchell, Hall, and McIntosh, 2000), and the importance of
understanding the differences between them is increasingly recognised.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that Baby Boomers, particularly males, have been viewed as the typical, and perhaps most desirable, wine tourist in the past (Charters
and O'Neill, 2000). This is due to a range of factors, including their role in driving the
growth in wine consumption in the Anglophone world, their perceived level of wine
knowledge and wine involvement and greater disposable income. However, it is now
becoming clear that a younger generation of wine consumers and wine tourists need
to be considered if the industry is to have a long-term future (Koerber, 2000). This
will require an understanding of the relationship of Generation Y to the winery
experience. To this end, this chapter explores the attitudes, expectations and
behaviour of Generation Y at the winery cellar door. In particular, the focus is on their preferences regarding the interaction they seek with cellar door staff, their needs with
regards to the type of education and/or information sought during a winery visit and
their overall attitude to a winery experience. The chapter is based on fieldwork
conducted in Swan Valley, Western Australia, Yarra Valley, Victoria, and Waipara
Valley, New Zealand. It is worth noting that Generation Y has been defined in this
chapter as those born between 1978 and 1994 (Sheahan, 2005).[Show full abstract]
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