Practising Authentic Wine Tourism
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Lund University SMMM20 Department of Service Management and Service Studies 2017 Practising Authentic Wine Tourism Wine Destination Mosel Master’s thesis 30 credits Author: Tamara Moskopp Tutor: Jan Henrik Nilsson Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the interest in my work shown by the vintners, gastronomes, and marketing agents interviewed in this study, who have shared their thoughts and provided me with photographs and promotional material. You all welcomed me open-heartedly. Your passion for food, wine, and the Mosel motivated me even more to write about our beautiful home region. Thanks for all the knowledge I have gained about wine-making, for all the stories you told me, and of course for the wine I could taste. I am grateful for the support in producing my work shown by my supervisor Jan Henrik Nilsson, who believed in my ideas and managed to motivate me throughout the whole process. Thanks for sharing your advice and thoughts which made it a pleasure writing this thesis. My thanks must go to everyone who supported me throughout this process and who shared the same experience. Thanks for all the hours spent working on our theses together, and the hours we spent otherwise. A special thanks to my loving parents who did not only support me throughout my studies but also provided me with accommodation, food, wine, and means of transportation during the data gathering period in the Mosel region. Thanks also to my grandparents who supported my life and studies abroad together with my parents. Writing this thesis has been a truly great experience. It has reopened my eyes for my home region and motivated me to share the fact that Germany has wonderful wine destinations, for instance, the Mosel region. I hope you enjoy this study and it will spark your interest in the wine destination Mosel. I know there are wonderful people who would love to welcome you. i Abstract Mosel is Germany’s oldest wine-growing region. This study analyses how authenticity is presented in the practises of wine tourism in this region. The analysis includes an operationalisation of interviews with local vintners, gastronomes, and marketing agents, as well as a content analysis of marketing material gathered at the destination. A model for operationalisation has been constructed specifically for this study, using concepts such as winescape, terroir, and authenticity. The research reveals that supply-side agents in the Mosel region practise authenticity by promoting the viticultural landscape, traditions, and the people behind the wine in storytelling, images, and throughout the whole winescape. Therefore, previous theories on authenticity in wine tourism are strengthened. Implications are drawn for comparisons of authenticity among other wine tourism destinations. Generalisability to other destinations is limited and the sample of interviewees and marketing material from only a few places does not necessarily reflect the overall situation in the whole Mosel region. Keywords: wine tourism, terroir, regionality, authenticity, Germany, Mosel ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... i Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... ii List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... v 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Problem Discussion and Research Relevance ............................................................. 2 1.2 Aim and Research Questions ....................................................................................... 4 1.3 The Structure of the Thesis .......................................................................................... 5 2 Theoretical Background ................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Food Tourism .............................................................................................................. 7 2.1.1 The History of Food Tourism ........................................................................... 8 2.1.2 The Food Tourist .............................................................................................. 9 2.2 The Supply Side of Food Tourism ............................................................................ 10 2.2.1 Food Events .................................................................................................... 11 2.2.2 Food Tourism Destination Marketing ............................................................ 13 2.2.3 Terroir ........................................................................................................... 14 2.3 Wine Tourism ............................................................................................................ 16 2.3.1 The Winescape ................................................................................................ 16 2.4 Authenticity and its Role in Wine Tourism ............................................................... 20 2.4.1 Practised Authenticity ..................................................................................... 23 2.5 Food and Wine Tourism and the Region ................................................................... 26 3 Research Methodology ................................................................................................... 29 3.1 The Mosel Region ..................................................................................................... 29 3.2 Operationalisation ...................................................................................................... 31 3.3 Empirical Material ..................................................................................................... 35 3.4 Interviews .................................................................................................................. 37 3.5 Content Analysis ........................................................................................................ 41 iii 4 Findings and Analysis ..................................................................................................... 43 4.1 Viticultural Landscape ............................................................................................... 43 4.2 Wine and Food Related Services ............................................................................... 45 4.3 Winescape Attributes ................................................................................................. 50 4.3.1 Food, Wine, and Regionality .......................................................................... 50 4.3.2 People ........................................................................................................... 53 4.3.3 Means for Promotion and Storytelling............................................................ 55 4.3.4 Heritage and Architecture ............................................................................... 58 4.4 Signage and Storytelling ............................................................................................ 60 4.4.1 Stories ........................................................................................................... 60 4.4.2 Promotion........................................................................................................ 64 4.4.3 Photographs .................................................................................................... 66 4.4.4 Buzz Words..................................................................................................... 73 4.4.5 Signs and Elements ......................................................................................... 75 5 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 79 References ............................................................................................................................... 82 Appendices .............................................................................................................................. 86 The Construction of the Model ......................................................................................... 86 The Interview Guide ......................................................................................................... 89 Transcripts ......................................................................................................................... 90 iv List of Figures Figure 1: The region in Germany and a map of the Untermosel .............................................. 30 Figure 2: The Model of Practising Authenticity in Wine Tourism .......................................... 34 Figure 3: The Mosel Valley ..................................................................................................... 44 Figure 4: The menu of the Old Mill ......................................................................................... 57 Figure 5: The Vinothek in Winningen ..................................................................................... 59 Figure 6: The Moselfest brochure and a wine glass showing the Wine Witch ........................ 63 Figure 7: A post card of the Winery Walter