ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses innovation in New Zealand wine tourism. Using the results of surveys and interviews of wine tourism businesses and wineries, the chapter highlights the relationships between different areas of innovation and different business strategies. Some of these relationships are deliberate and some are potentially accidental'. The chapter presents the results of a study of innovation among New Zealand winegrowers based on whether the businesses surveyed chose to offer cellar door sales to wine tourists. It reviews some of the key issues associated with innovation in the context of wine tourism. The chapter reviews the results of a survey of New Zealand wineries with respect to their engagement with wine tourism and innovation and seeks to identify the extent to which internal and external competences are utilized by winegrowers that are engaged in wine tourism. It examines a number of areas of competence for innovative practices, with the research highlighting that the respondents are primarily internally focused.
