Cristina Barroco

Cised team members
Carla Silva
Cristina Barroco

Funding
FCT
COMPETE2020
PORTUGAL2020
Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional

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The TWINE project aims to study the co-creation of tourist experiences in rural wine tourism destinations, focusing on the Bairrada do Dão and Beira Interior routes, located between the coast and the interior of the Central region. With a view to deepening the methodologies and results of a previous project on the integral experience in rural areas in Portugal, the project is led by the University of Aveiro (ORTE project –PTDC/CS-GEO/104894/2008), also integrating the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu and the University of Beira Interior, as well as experts (from the UK, Germany and Portugal) in wine tourism, sustainable rural tourism and regional development. Action research promotes the exchange of information between researchers, communities, development agents and stakeholders in the tourism and wine sector.

The tourist experience will be studied in the following dimensions: cognitive, sensorial, behavioral, emotional, relational, economic and spatial. Emphasis will be given to the physical, social and cultural contexts of the wine tourism experience, as well as complementary tourist experiences (cultural, nature, well-being tourism). For the analysis of the integral tourist experience (before, during and after the trip), innovative methodologies will be used (reaction to promotional material with eye tracking and psychophysiological feedback, in the pre-visit; tracking of tourist movements and photo-elicitation during the visit; and analysis of content generated by tourists on social networks, in the post-visit period), aiming at the identification of central elements for the design and promotion of appealing experiential tourism products.

The composition and functioning of the wine “ecosystem”, partly defined by the routes, will be explored in terms of: a) motivations, attitudes and actions of supply agents; b) attitudes and actions of local communities; c) articulation and management of networks of actors, resources, attractions and equipment. Attention will be given to the dynamic context of the international market and the specific territorial context, especially coastal-inland differences.

The multidisciplinary research team (with specialization in geography, rural sociology, regional development, network analysis, management, entrepreneurship, innovation, consumer behavior, psychology, marketing and tourism) will contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities for co-creation of experiences in appealing and sustainable wine tourism as well as the conditions for the success of the wine tourism ecosystem. In global terms, the project aims to promote sustainable rural development in the studied enodestinations based on new forms of business based on endogenous resources, generating greater wealth and creating new jobs. It also intends to design a local development model that can be replicated in other wine regions, promoting wine tourism routes that benefit economies, communities and visitors.