Tourist experiences in a wine region – the case of the Portuguese Beira Interior

Resumo

Visitors' experiences as reported on social media constitute relevant data that not only represent memories and allow post-visit evaluation of the experience, but also influence third-party future experiences via the phenomenon of "word-of-mouth". In this context, the present study aims to understand the wine tourism experiences of visitors to the specific wine region of Beira Interior in Central Portugal, as reported on TripAdvisor. A sample of 300 reviews was selected and subjected to content analysis using NVivo. Several types of experiences were considered (e.g., nature, culture, gastronomy, wine degustation), taking into account the dimensions of experience according to Schmitt's model (1999a): sense, feel, think, act, relate), emotional tonality (positive/negative) of the lived experiences, and overall satisfaction with the visit. This territory in general elicits positive feelings in visitors, who feel satisfied and surrendered to the region's magnificent landscapes, material cultural heritage, and gastronomy. Despite being an wine destination, wine per se is not yet the protagonist of these experiences. We discuss the main implications of our results and put forth suggestions to improve this region's tourism offer in order to promote its attractiveness and further development.