Wine tourism: A multisensory experience

Abstract

This study sought to identify the main themes of sensory experiences of Douro wineries shared online by tourists. Douro is a demarcated wine region famous for Port, which is on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage List. The research used 470 visitor reviews posted on the TripAdvisor website, which referred to experiences of the five regional wine brands that run wine hotels. Mixed content analyses extracted the main themes from the reviews, as well as identifying concepts associated with the five senses. The results include 12 main themes: wine, view, staff, room, hotel, food, restaurant, pool, service, Douro, delicious (food and wine) and comfort. Most concepts are linked with sight and taste, followed by hearing, with only a few reviews mentioning touch or smell. These findings have managerial implications for wine tourism, contributing to a better understanding of how sensory dimensions create memorable experiences for visitors.