Innovating wine tourism after the pandemic: new needs and expectations of travellers

In recent years, wine tourism traditional offering has shown its limit. Guided visits as well as tasting seem no longer fully satisfy travelers who are experiencing wine attributes of a destination. This has reinforced the need for creativity to create new experiences, establish new collaborations and reach new targets. In such context, the COVID-19 crisis has further affected wine tourism, also stimulating a wider reflection among the industry and the academics about future development trajectories. Studies have highlighted a drastic drop in wine and tourism sales in 2020; on the other hand, they all emphasized the prompt reaction of this sector, with producers that have resorted to innovative tools, starting with digitalization, accelerating the adoption of e-commerce, and activating online initiatives. The present paper provides empirical evidence of new needs and expectations of travellers in wine tourism, while suggesting possible development of the related offering. It therefore contributes to advance knowledge on wine tourism, also in terms future development trajectories of this practice helping the industry to face the new challenges posed by COVID-19 crisis.