A Cross-Cultural Comparison of New Implemented Sustainable Wine Tourism Strategies during the COVID-19 Crisis

ABSTRACT

To compensate for loss of business during the COVID-19 crisis, wineries in the tourism industry had to apply new strategies. In order to collect and compare these newly developed sustainable strategies, a cross-cultural study has been conducted in 2021. This study is based on a qualitative survey using purposeful sampling with key decision-makers of 70 wineries from the U.S., Australia, Germany, Hungary, and Romania covering wine growing countries both from the Old and New World. The aim was to identify new and sustainable initiatives and resilience strategies implemented to deal with the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, noting any cultural differences in each country’s response and to analyse the perspectives of wine tourism in the future. The findings highlight the wineries’ impressive focus on creativity and flexibility while also bringing attention to cultural differences. The insights form a preliminary suggestion for best practice strategies that businesses within wine tourism may consider helpful in their future business planning.