ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the characteristics of the wine tourist, their behaviour, motivations and experiences. It provides a summary of research into the wine tourist and their behaviour and draws at a picture of the winery visitor, providing demographic profiles, lifestyle information and describes some of the motives for their visits. Consumer behaviour research is important for stakeholders in wine tourism because it can help provide important insights into who the wine tourist is, what motivates them to visit a winery, take a guided tour, thus allowing marketers and managers to effectively target and develop markets. Establishing the level of interest in wine of winery visitors is extremely important in terms of educating the consumer. Wine tastings, wine festivals, guided tours and visits to the cellar door are all part of the means by which people encounter and learn about wine.
