Empirical Implication

Started from demand-side research, supported by supply-side perspectives from Ackerman managers and from public sectors, previous chapters have reviewed literatures over psychological perspectives of wine tourist demands, with philosophical analysis and discussions. Triggered by appreciating French core culture – wine and gastronomy, travelling while studying, participants set out from Loire Valley towards discovering French wine with their cross-cultural point of view.

It has explored the cross-cultural tourists’ perceptions and preferences as a demonstration of niche consumer behaviors throughout temporal changes. It also presents further thinking in terms of on-going relationship and regional brand building.

According to the self-evaluation in 2010 after 4 years of wine tourism development (Table 2, page. 10), this research wishes to combine and conclude the research findings with the completion of the above report (Table 14). By adding the Sino-Franco cultural differences, this research presents a SWOT analysis as research implications consolidating perspectives from both demand and supply sides.

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From Ackerman to SWOT analysis of Wines of the Loire Strengths

 Quality wine in reasonable price

 Industrialized wineries provide transactional experience

 Traditional wineries provide authentic experience

 World UNESCO cultural heritages

 Human appeals bring about longer-term relationships

 Young student group

 One hour to Paris

 Mutual linkages between industries, authorities and academia Weaknesses

 Lack Service quality

 Complicated wine profiles and brand profiles

 Lack Multi-lingual guiding and marketing skills

 Language and cultural barriers

 Unclear regional brand building as Wines of “Loire”

 Integration between heritage sites and wineries

 Promotions in Asian markets Threatens

 Other brands: white wine (e.g. Alsace/Bourgogne); sparkling wine (e.g. Champagne);

red wine (e.g. Bordeaux/Bourgogne) …

 Other tourism programs: Wine Routes (e.g. Alsace); Wine Theme Park (e.g.

Beaujolais); industrialized wine tourism package tours (e.g. Bordeaux); La Loire à Vélo (Alsace) …

 Rural landscape and natural assets

 World reputation of culture and education

 France as the premier tourism destination

 Modern mass tourism development

 Rising markets in New World, China

 Rising academia in wine tourism research

 Global wine tourist demand: seeking for authentic winery experience with human appeals

 Certain famous vintages as marketing stars (e.g. Côteaux-du-Layon ; Coulée de Serrant ; Chinon, Muscadet sur lie...)

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*Table 14. From Ackerman to SWOT analysis of Wines of the Loire⁵³

Considering Wines of the Loire at a global scale is the exact task to work on. Wine of the Loire has all it takes to be developed and discussed in four aspects:

1. Manipulate the strengths : create a YOUNG brand for YOUNG generation

The most interesting part of Loire Valley studies is combining the old-and-young, modest-and-luxurious, traditional-and-industrial dichotomies. This research concludes the perceptions within one phrasing: the changing of wine value. Traditionally, wine presents luxury, and even pretentious temperament among higher classes of identities and cultural hegemony. However, a broader view of this research beliefs that by adding cross-cultural point of views, wine tourism implies the necessity to change the wine image into young, fresh and approachable. However, the concern for wine quality and service skills is not fresh to know. It implies certain improvements to make but most of all it needs to stick to the principles:

 Industrialized wineries provide service, sales and education

 Traditional wineries provide authentic experience of wine interpretation and enthusiastic hospitality

 Both kinds of wineries need to believe that they are leading the trend of changing the value of wine and to create coping commercial approaches

 To see is to believe, to touch is to fell, to play is to make memories, to experience is to have fun

2. Diminish the weaknesses : integrate Ile-de-France for a weekend getaway

53 Adapted by the researcher

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For tourism management, the prior task to do is the transportation planning. For a case like Loire Valley with accessibility problems, it needs the task to integrate a traveler-friendly itinerary to have fun out of it. However, wineries are sometimes private, remote and hiding. To diminish the weakness of low accessibility, it needs to create a bus tour or partnership with travel agencies to form a weekend getaway from Paris to Loire Valley.

However, there still exists threatens from even closer and reputed wine region, e.g.

Champagne. Champagne has four different wine routes of between 70 and 120km with detailed leaflet outlining the historical and natural sites of the region (Hall et al., 2000). The Bouchon d’Or (the golden cork) rewards Champagne Wine Houses’

hospitality skills, representing their wish for emotional connections between wine houses and customers.

The potential threaten implies the essential problem of the Loire Valley wines in comparison with Champagne “les Grandes Maisons” (the grand houses): the insufficient brand image and integrity with the heritage sites. This research suggests several tasks to work on to implement an optimized winery experience in Loire

 Considering the creation an on-going relationship by elevating the service quality

 Simplify the wine profiles and flavor profiles by good storytelling

 Promote regional brand as one beautiful vintage of “Loire wines”

 Increase multi-lingual guidance

 Using the strength of Loire for being a place with many foreign students

 Integration between heritage sites and wineries

 Promotions in Asian markets

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3. Exclude the threatens : gain reputations in both wine product and wine tourism programs

As mentioned, threatened by other brands, other tourism programs and other markets, Loire Valley wines (in fact everywhere) is in the face of gaining reputations in both keeping the quality wine, controlling the pricing and making public exposure for their wine tourism programs.

However, the core issue to this problem is “who will be the future winery tourist – who are they and what do they want?” Considering aspects of the wine tourist demands, the relationship marketing and cross-cultural communication techniques are solutions to ensuring an on-going relationship. This explains why an authentic experience is essential for creating tourist satisfaction by adding human touches and story-telling marketing.

4. Capitalize the opportunities : Star brands as the marketing frontiers, Tradition, Modesty and Conviviality as the marketing value

Armed with the natural assets with rich rural resources, Loire Valley has multiplied its marketing mixes in culture, wine, gastronomy, lifestyle and recreation. With the reputation of the cultural beauty and education system, Loire Valley needs to add perspectives of Asian wine demands and cross-cultural interactions to its wine tourism management. Where to start? There are some vintages famous enough and promotable like Côteaux-du-Layon ; Coulée de Serrant ; Chinon, Muscadet sur lie..., which can be used as frontiers for developing wine tourism for mass tourism trends. Most of all, the ultimate goal to wine tourism planning is actually transferring the idea of its ultimate traits: the respect for Tradition, the irreplaceable Modesty and the joyful Conviviality.

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To conclude, as the discussions have noted, wine tourism is extra important for niche wineries around the world. It provides chances to direct cellar door sales and sustain innovation of regional development. It is important in how businesses of all sizes are using winery experience in building up customer relationship, educating consumers’

wine recognition, testing new wines, building brand images and wine sales.

This research provides a series of chapters, reviewing wine tourism studies throughout in order to achieve the research objectives as

 To understand what forms the pre-visit expectations that trigger the wine tourist demand

 To explore wine tourists’ on-site perceptions with experiential and managerial perspectives

 To reflect from post-visit brand loyalty toward regionality

One of the underlying philosophies of this research is the way an experiential approach brings wine tourism “life” by offering human perspectives. While people buy wine, they are purchasing not just the physical product but consuming the environment, the lifestyle and a spirited kind of romanticism - the souvenirs that they buy are actually the memories that they are tucked within the bottles. Winescape, servicescape, social interactions, rurality…are actually the elements towards understanding a good bottle of wine, an attachment to a fun-having day, or a remembrance of experiencing a phenomenal lifestyle