Wine Tourism in New Zealand: Larger Bottles or Better Relationships? C.Michael Hall and Gary Johnson (Centre for Tourism, University of Otago, Dunedin) Abstract Increasing attention is being provided both by academics and business to the relationship between wine and tourism. However, despite the wine as a factor in the development of destination attractiveness by tourism businesses and organisations in New Zealand little is known about the nature of the wine tourism market, attitudes of the wine industry to tourism and the extent to which alliances and relationships exist between the wine and tourism industries. This paper examines the results of a survey of wineries conducted in late 1997 towards tourism and the extent of their relationships with the tourism industry. The paper concludes that while such relationships are starting to develop, large gaps exist in the mutual understanding between the two industries. TOURISM AND WINE Wine tourism can be defined as visitation to vineyards, wineries, wine festivals and wine shows for which grape wine tasting and/or experiencing the attributes of a grape wine region are the prime motivating factors for visitors (Hall 1996; Macionis 1996). Although tourism is important for many wineries in terms of the ability to sell wine either directly to visitors through cellar sales or to place such customers on a direct mail order list; tourism, if mentioned at all, is often seen in very disparaging terms with the implication being of course that those who are seriously interested in wine are not tourists (e.g., Bradley 1982). Nevertheless, visiting wineries, sightseeing, attendance at festivals, visiting other attractions, socialising, recreation and visiting friends and relatives are recognised as the main reasons for visiting wine regions (Reid 1990; Smith 1992; Maddern and Golledge 1996; Macionis 1997). The significance of wine tourism has even reached the notice of leading international wine writer, Jancis Robinson, who records that Wine-related tourism has become increasingly important. For many centuries not even wine merchants traveled, but today many members of the general public deliberately make forays to explore a wine region or regions. This is partly a reflection of the increased interest in both wine and foreign travel generally, but also because most wine regions and many producers' premises are attractive places. Vineyards tend to be aesthetically pleasing in any case, and the sort of climate in which wine is generally produced is agreeable during most of the year. Getting to grips with this specialist form of agriculture combines urban dwellers' need to commune with nature with acquiring privileged, and generally admired, specialist knowledge. And then there is the possibility of tasting, and buying wines direct from the source, which may involve keen prices and/or acquiring rarities (1994: 980). In 1997 the Marketing department at the University of Otago conducted a travel lifestyles study of 1,703 New Zealanders (Lawson et al. 1997). 17.7% of New Zealanders reported having visited a winery during their most recent holiday of the last ten years. 18.5% of respondents holidaying overseas and 17.4% holidaying in New Zealand had visited a winery. These results compare with those from the New Zealand International Visitors Survey 1995/96 that found 13% of international visitors had either gone on a wine trail or visited a vineyard during their stay (New Zealand Tourism Board 1996). The New Zealand International Visitors Survey 1992/93 found approximately 12% of international visitors had participated in wine tasting (estimated from New Zealand Tourism Board 1993). Note that