Study on the perception of the oenological tourism potential of the Moldavian Region, Romania

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the perception of the potential tourists on wine tourism in Moldavia region. The area under study represents Romania’s largest wine region, concentrating about 38% of the total area covered by vineyards and about 47% of the area under grafted bearing vineyards. Similarly, the counties comprised within the wine region of the Moldavian Hills supply 40% of the total quantity of grapes and 38% of the quantity of wine grapes produced in Romania. The importance of the region is underlined by the existence of 12 vineyards and 55 wine centres; thus, for the recognition of the quality and particularities of their wines, there are several Controlled Designation of Origin/CDO. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the perception of a random sample, consisting of 140 people from different regions of Romania (and the Republic of Moldova), on the importance of the wine potential and the tourist capitalization of the oenological patrimony of the region. It was found that most respondents practised wine tourism both in the country and in other states, some of them even visiting Moldavia region. Most of the respondents fall into the category of young people, which led to different perceptions of wine tourism and to various expectations related to its practice in Moldavia region, especially when compared to other categories of tourists. The personal experience of practicing this type of tourism has led to answers based on the reality perceived by the respondents, both with the advantages of Moldavia and with the issues inherent in a developing region, especially those related to the promotion and capitalization of the wine tourism potential. Respondents also provided solutions to reduce problems in the region's development and suggested that institutions be involved in achieving them.