Wine tourism for the development of the Amalfi coast

Tourism and leisure worldwide goes through changes: alternative and sustainable tourism stand out, contrasting the effects of mass tourism, and respectful of nature as well as ethnical, historical and anthropological distinctiveness of local population. Forces of change are: new consumer behaviour, the ability of the players in the demand segmentation, and the global competition of destinations. Research in Italy shows a sudden increase in thematic tourism and its trend to specialize. This kind of tourism is characterized by different development processes and territorial dissemination often due to intangible resources as entrepreneurial capabilities rather than original tourism vocation of territories (ACI-CENSIS, 2008). As niche tourism, wine tourism is nowadays a settled, but still increasing, phenomenon, also in Italy where it embodies local identity and its precious tangible and intangible resources. This is particularly true in Southern Italy as it boasts excellent grape growing and wine production and is endowed with valuable natural, cultural and historical resources. This paper stems from a review of the international and national literature on wine tourism mainly aimed at describing the phenomenon and identifying the main drivers for its development. The second phase of this research work is aimed at probing the existence of such drivers for the development of wine tourism in the Amalfi Coast, an area of great physical beauty and natural diversity, in the Southern Italian region of Campania. The current state of wine tourism in the area is also investigated, in both quantitative and qualitative aspects. The case- study was undertaken through a desk analysis of official and secondary data sources and a empirical survey on the wineries of the area. The case-study results o!er guidelines, suggestions, and recommendations useful to local actors, in order to diversify the tourism product by enriching tourists' experience and their perception of the Amalfi Coast as a destination.