Wine tourism as a catalyst for green innovation: evidence from the Spanish wine industry

Abstract

PurposeThis research focuses on analysing the effect of wine tourism on green product and process innovations developed by Spanish wineries. In addition, age, size and membership in a protected designation of origin (PDO) are introduced as control variables to increase the precision of the cause–effect relationship analysed.Design/methodology/approachThe study proposes a conceptual model based on previous studies, which is tested using structural equations (partial least squares structural equation modelling [PLS-SEM]) with data collected from 202 Spanish wineries.FindingsThe research results show that wine tourism activity has a positive and significant influence on green product and process innovation.Originality/valueThe research contributes to the academic literature in several ways. First, the study advances knowledge and understanding of the benefits generated by wine tourism. Second, the research contributes to the literature that analyses the wine tourism–sustainability link, since it is predicted that this type of tourism can increase the capacity for green innovation. Third, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no previous research that has analysed wine tourism as a catalytic variable for green innovation. Fourth, the proposed theoretical model has not been previously addressed in the academic literature, so the study represents an important advance in scientific knowledge.

The effect of wine tourism on the sustainable performance of Spanish wineries: a structural equation model analysis

“…Therefore, considering wine tourism as a dichotomous variable in the research allows for a specific and comparative analysis of the effect of this type of tourism on the sustainable performance of wineries, facilitating the identification of possible correlations or causalities between wine tourism and the results obtained in each dimension of the TBL. In fact, several recent studies on the subject, such as those by Martínez-Falcó et al (2023a) and Martínez-Falcó et al (2023b), measure wine tourism as a dichotomous variable when looking at cause-effect relationships through PLS-SEM. To formulate the question associated with the variable, we used the definition of Hall et al (2000), as it is one of the most widely used in the academic literature on wine tourism, as well as because it captures the different characteristics that surround the activity.…”