International Journal of Wine Research Dovepress open access to scientific and medical research Open Access Full Text Article ca S E R E port Wine tourism product clubs as a way to increase wine added value: the case of Spain Francisco José Del Campo Abstract: The objective of this paper is to analyze how the wine tourism product clubs work Gomis in Spain and their importance for Spanish wine tourism. A tourism product club is a product David López Lluch development partnership established and led by the tourism industry stakeholders including José Miguel Sales Civera small- and/or medium-sized companies. The group pools its resources to develop new market- Asunción M Agulló Torres ready products or to increase the value of existing ones. Lodging companies, tour operators, administrators of tourism facilities, tourist associations, government, other companies of the Margarita Brugarolas sector and, even, nontourist companies can participate as members of a tourism product club. Mollá-Bauzá Following this model, wine tourism can contribute to create a wine tourism product club. In África Martínez Poveda Spain the international promotion of tourist products is carried out through the Turespaña web- Fermín Camacho de los For personal use only. site. The wine tourism product club, The Wine Routes of Spain, is one of the wine tourism Ríos product clubs developed by the Spanish government. It is an ambitious project that began in Antonio Miguel Nogués 2001. Nevertheless, other Spanish regions have created more wine tourism product clubs in Pedregal order to develop their own wine tourism industry such as “Divinum vitae – Where the pleasues Departament of Agrienvironmental are born” created in Castilla–La Mancha in 2006. Economics, Universidad Miguel Keywords: wine, tourism, product club, Spain Hernández, Campus Universitario de Orihuela-Desamparados, Orihuela (Alicante), Spain What is a tourism product club? A tourism product club is a group of companies that have agreed to work together to develop new tourism products or increase the value of existing products and collectively review the existing problems that hinder profitable development of tourism.1 Tourism product clubs share an interest in a sector of the tourism industry and aims to increase International Journal of Wine Research downloaded from https://www.dovepress.com/ by 54.70.40.11 on 16-Dec-2018 the variety and quality of products available (packages, events, activities, experiences) and/or develop new products for a specific market segment. The group is committed to conducting a program of development of tourism products for a period of at least three to five years. The three main lines of development of the tourism product club are: 1. Communication to the tourism enterprise. 2. Education for the tourism industry. 3. Research of segment needs. Correspondence: Francisco José Del Campo Gomis Tourism product clubs usually resolve problems that represent barriers to produc- Universidad Miguel Hernández, tivity and business efficiency (usually small and medium enterprises) around tourism. Departament of Agrienvironmental Economics, Campus Universitario de Specific activities to be carried out by a tourism product club are: Orihuela-Desamparados, 03312 Orihuela 1. Businessmen’s association in joint projects. (Alicante), Spain 2. Research of specific markets needs. Tel +34 9 6674 9624 Email [email protected] 3. Identification of potential markets and segments. submit your manuscript | www.dovepress.com International Journal of Wine Research 2010:2 27–34 27 Dovepress © 2010 Del Campo Gomis et al, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd. This is an Open Access 7317 article which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, provided the original work is properly cited. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) 1 / 1 Del Campo Gomis et al Dovepress 4. Evaluation of successful initiatives in other places An association should not seek to duplicate the functions (benchmarking). of the tourism offices that are in charge of management, 5. Implementation of a development strategy and marketing promotion, and information to visitors. of the activity concerned. c) A development fund. 6. Creation of new packages. The purchase of real estate, infrastructure construction, 7. Seminars. training or financing companies should not be supported 8. Production of newsletters and other communications through the club. (business to business: B2B). Moreover, some related ideas are considered tourism At the end of the development cycle of the tourism prod- product clubs, although they are not, for example, clusters, uct, the company has the chance of launching new or improved advisory councils, and committees. tourism products ready to market. Therefore, the main generic The tourism product club is a tool to build business strengths of the concept of tourism product clubs are: clusters in the country and it serves to raise the level of 1. Their capacity to group shareholders around activities competition for the wine destinations, even though the club’s and strategies that they could not solve alone. reach is broader. 2. Conducting market research in a co-operative way. The fundamental difference between a tourism product 3. Shared dissemination of information and knowledge. club and the advisory councils and committees established at 4. The ability to develop and put in the market innovative various levels to address issues relating to a product in par- and/or alternative products that may attract a diverse ticular is in the level of commitment and type of participation audience of travelers. of each member. The level of commitment of members of a Members are often existing accommodation establish- tourism product club is much narrower than that of councils ments, tour operators, managers of tourist attractions, tourist and advisory committees and, therefore, its range and pos- associations, municipal, regional and state governments, sibilities of performance are greater. other tourism companies, and even companies outside the For personal use only. tourism sector. Advantanges and benefits The name of the tourism product club is given to busi- of a tourism product club ness groups engaged in a specific business niche, topic Developing tourism product clubs has the immediate advan- or product while receiving official support to develop it tage of strengthening dialogue with the large number of and can offer advice to other groups. Subsequently, clubs companies who work in a market segment or specific tour- operate as development offices with resources from the ism activity, regardless of the importance of the location or industry itself once government support is removed. There- destination. fore, the condition of the tourism product club should be, A tourism product club generates the following generic according to the perspective of the public administration, opportunities or advantages.1 a temporary status maintained while the sector is able to 1. Formalization of collaborative actions among stakehold- develop its own market intelligence activities and plan- ers in the development of the sector, topic or niche of the International Journal of Wine Research downloaded from https://www.dovepress.com/ by 54.70.40.11 on 16-Dec-2018 ning products. tourism market. 2. Establishment of commercial synergies among partici- What should not be a tourism pants. product club? 3. Potential increase of the market of a topic or niche. In the first instance, a tourism product club can be confused 4. Increase of efficiency in the tourism operations of a with other administrative figures of the sector but it has dif- specific sector of the tourism market. ferent objectives in comparison to traditional institutions, so it 5. Creation of spaces for dialogue between the public orga- is important to clarify what should not be a product club:1 nization and private initiative. a) A promotion fund. On the other hand, analyzing and addressing the specific They should not have funds for the promotion of destina- needs of development of each activity through the tourism tions and activities (advertising, brochures, media, web product clubs helps address problems that impede or constrain pages, etc.). However members may, of course, perform the development of each segment, enhances the capabilities of their own marketing activities. its members (synergies), and promotes the country’s competi- b) An association. tiveness in key and emblematic segments of world tourism. 28 submit your manuscript | www.dovepress.com International Journal of Wine Research 2010:2 Dovepress Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) 1 / 1 Dovepress Wine product tourism clubs in Spain Tourism product clubs do not only benefit the producers. In this section, two examples of wine tourism product clubs The main advantage of clubs is for customers and commu- that currently operate in Spain will be shown; the first one at a nities to share these advantages due to the profit generated national level and the second one at a regional level. by service providers. The generic benefits produced by a tourism product club can be divided into three main groups: Wine tourism product club: economic, physical, and emotional (Table 1). The Wine Routes of Spain By encouraging cooperation among different stakehold- The promotion of The Wine Routes of Spain by Turespaña ers in tourism industries, tourism product clubs continue the follows the national program of objectives for international relationships between companies and organizations that have wine promotion set out in 2007,