Economic sustainability of wine tourism services and direct sales performance - emergent profiles from Italy

Purpose Direct sales at the winery constitute one of the most used indicators for evaluating the success of a wine tourism experience. In this respect, service performance at the winery can have some influence on sales, which assumes that there is a direct link between the service level intensity of the wine tourism offer and the intensity level of direct sales at the winery; thus proposing that the global sustainability of the economic performance of the winery would increase if the wine tourism experience was supported by intense wine tourism services. Design/methodology/approach A descriptive statistical investigation was conducted on a sample of 35 Italian wineries, giving evidence on the adoption of different service categories as part of the wineries' wine tourism offers. From these results, an inferential statistical analysis was conducted to detect the existence of a direct link between wine tourism services and direct sales at the winery. Findings Based on the current investigation, even though it was of an exploratory nature, the evidence does not in general support a direct link between the service level intensity of the wine tourism offer and the level of intensity of direct sales at the winery. Instead, some evidence points to a potential direct link between logistics services and direct sales. Unfortunately, some evidence emerged regarding the lack of availability of wine tourism services for disabled persons. Originality/value Wine tourism is a relevant success factor for the wine business. Its influence affects not only the wineries' reputation through word-of-mouth, most of all on the social networks but also their image and most importantly their direct sales. Frequently, in fact, wine tourism performance can be evaluated by direct sales performance. As a result of the current investigation, however, it is likely that the intensity level of direct sales at the winery is not the most correct indicator for evaluating the success of a wine tourism experience with high levels of service, especially when considering overall sustainability.