IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i15p6336-d1441953.html

The Role of Websites in Promoting Wine Tourism: An Evaluation of Romanian Wineries

Author

Listed:
  • Cristiana Vîlcea

    (Geography Department, University of Craiova, 200585 Craiova, Romania)

  • Mihaela Licurici

    (Geography Department, University of Craiova, 200585 Craiova, Romania)

  • Liliana Popescu

    (Geography Department, University of Craiova, 200585 Craiova, Romania)

Abstract

While aspiring to become internationally valued producers of high-quality wines, certain Romanian wineries recently turned towards wine tourism. Given the increasing role of smart devices and online-based information in holiday selection and planning, the main objective of the paper is to evaluate the online presence, informational content and effectiveness of Romanian wineries’ websites for the promotion of wine tourism. This evaluation comprised 53 features tested in previous research and organized into four categories: main website characteristics, wine tourism, marketing, and education. Based on content analysis conducted on 154 websites of wineries identified in all Romanian regions, scores were computed and, subsequently, wineries were classified, mapped, and evaluated. The findings show that certain basic features are overall available, while exclusive features that could positively influence tourist preferences and experiences are insufficient in terms of design, education, and marketing characteristics. Less than 50% of the analysed websites inform about wine tasting activities, less than 35% specify visiting hours, and less than 20% mention tourist amenities. The websites that indicate other local wineries, allied industries or tourist attractions represent exceptions. This study underlines the importance of leveraging digital tools within the marketing strategy of wineries and the need to enhance networking among regional stakeholders as prerequisite for sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Cristiana Vîlcea & Mihaela Licurici & Liliana Popescu, 2024. "The Role of Websites in Promoting Wine Tourism: An Evaluation of Romanian Wineries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-21, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:15:p:6336-:d:1441953
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/15/6336/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/15/6336/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alexandra I. Correia & Raquel Cunha & Olga Matos & Carlos Fernandes, 2019. "Wine Tourism Experiences and Marketing: The Case of the Douro Valley in Portugal," Springer Books, in: Marianna Sigala & Richard N. S. Robinson (ed.), Wine Tourism Destination Management and Marketing, chapter 0, pages 203-220, Springer.
    2. Tan Vo-Thanh & Valentina Kirova, 2018. "Wine tourism experience: A netnography study," Post-Print hal-02544984, HAL.
    3. Vo Thanh, Tan & Kirova, Valentina, 2018. "Wine tourism experience: A netnography study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 30-37.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Maria Bonaventura Forleo & Vincenzo Giaccio & Angelica Spina, 2025. "Digital marketing tools for supporting farmhouse development in rural areas: a regional case study," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 13(1), pages 1-25, December.
    2. Francesco Piras, 2024. "A Systematic Literature Review on Technological Innovation in the Wine Tourism Industry: Insights and Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-16, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Torres, Juan Pablo & Barrera, Jose Ignacio & Kunc, Martin & Charters, Steve, 2021. "The dynamics of wine tourism adoption in Chile," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 474-485.
    2. Xujia Wang & Billy Sung & Ian Phau, 2024. "How rarity and exclusivity influence types of perceived value for luxury," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 31(6), pages 576-592, November.
    3. Koivunen, Kati & Haanpää, Milka Aino Annikki & Saraniemi, Saila, 2025. "“The emergence of cause-oriented influencers – conceptualizing de-influencing on TikTok”," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    4. Qiushi Gu & Minglong Li & Zijian Guo & Fengxia Shi, 2025. "Mapping wine tourists’ spatial movement patterns in an emerging wine tourism destination: An exploratory study," Tourism Economics, , vol. 31(6), pages 1208-1235, September.
    5. Darcen Esau & Donna M. Senese, 2022. "Consuming Location: The Sustainable Impact of Transformational Experiential Culinary and Wine Tourism in Chianti Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-14, June.
    6. Mariana Carvalho & Elisabeth Kastenholz & Maria João Carneiro, 2021. "Pairing Co-Creation with Food and Wine Experiences—A Holistic Perspective of Tourist Experiences in Dão, a Portuguese Wine Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-25, December.
    7. Manthiou, Aikaterini & Klaus, Phil, 2022. "The interplaying factors of the robotic tourism experience: The customer journey's touchpoints, context, and qualities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    8. Vasco Santos & Paulo Ramos & Nuno Almeida & Enrique Santos-Pavón, 2020. "Developing a Wine Experience Scale: A New Strategy to Measure Holistic Behaviour of Wine Tourists," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-16, September.
    9. Nesij Huvaj, M. & Darmody, Aron & Smith, Robert S., 2023. "Psychological ownership and disownership in reward-based crowdfunding," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    10. Claudio Bellia & Pietro Columba & Marzia Ingrassia, 2022. "The Brand–Land Identity of Etna Volcano Valley Wines: A Policy Delphi Study," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-32, June.
    11. Ricardo Sellers-Rubio & Juan L Nicolau-Gonzálbez & Fernando Campayo-Sánchez & Seunghun Shin, 2025. "Enotourist satisfaction: A multidimensional approach," Tourism Economics, , vol. 31(6), pages 1187-1207, September.
    12. Hamed Azad Moghddam & Hormoz Ahmadi & Mojtaba Barari, 2026. "Decoding online brand-related activities: unveiling motivations, experiences, and personality factors in social commerce," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 1347-1379, April.
    13. Guillermo Vázquez Vicente & Victor Martín Barroso & Francisco José Blanco Jiménez, 2021. "Sustainable Tourism, Economic Growth and Employment—The Case of the Wine Routes of Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-17, June.
    14. Ehm Laura, 2023. "Wine tourism experiences: A collaborative approach to implementing customer-centric offerings," Zeitschrift für Tourismuswissenschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 15(3), pages 239-250, October.
    15. Georgios Angelakis & Yari Vecchio & Christos Lemonakis & Georgios Atsalakis & Constantin Zopounidis & Konstadinos Mattas, 2023. "Exploring the Behavioral Intentions of Food Tourists Who Visit Crete," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, June.
    16. Zaman, Mustafeed & Vo-Thanh, Tan & Nguyen, Chi T.K. & Hasan, Rajibul & Akter, Shahriar & Mariani, Marcello & Hikkerova, Lubica, 2023. "Motives for posting fake reviews: Evidence from a cross-cultural comparison," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    17. Jung, Timothy Hyungsoo & Bae, Sujin & Moorhouse, Natasha & Kwon, Ohbyung, 2021. "The impact of user perceptions of AR on purchase intention of location-based AR navigation systems," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    18. Fatheia Ibrahim & Serdal Işiktaş & Ayşem Çelebi, 2025. "Strategic Customer Insights: Leveraging Online Reviews for Service Enhancement in Wine Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-20, April.
    19. Virginica Rusu & Cristian Rusu & Nicolás Matus & Federico Botella, 2023. "Tourist Experience Challenges: A Holistic Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-32, August.
    20. Holmqvist, Jonas & Diaz Ruiz, Carlos & Peñaloza, Lisa, 2020. "Moments of luxury: Hedonic escapism as a luxury experience," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 503-513.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:15:p:6336-:d:1441953. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.