The influence of a wine festival on tourists' life satisfaction
Abstract
The Wacky Wine Festival is hosted by the Robertson Valley in the Western Cape Province and is seen as one of South Africa's biggest regional wine festivals. The festival provides a number of products and services to the diverse wine tourist market at the various wine cellars participating in the festival.
Wine festivals provide a lifestyle package to the tourist; comprising of wine, food, tourism and arts. A tourist has certain needs and chooses the festival to satisfy those needs in order to gain a satisfactory experience. Satisfaction with the wine festival, comprising products and services, will have an influence on the various life domains of tourists. These life domains include Social-, Leisure and recreational-, Intellectual-, Culinary-, as well as Travel life. Satisfaction with the festival will, in turn, influence the overall Life Satisfaction of the wine tourist, for Life Satisfaction is derived from satisfaction with primary life domains. Satisfaction with these primary life domains stems from satisfaction with the aspects of each life domain.
However, few studies have been conducted in tourism that seek to link tourist satisfaction of a tourism product/service with Life Satisfaction. Forecasting the needs of tourists, and providing tourists with a satisfactory experience will have a number of benefits. These include (1) future loyalty to the festival; (2) increased sales for the festival as well as for the wineries included; and (3) contributing to
the sustainability of the festival. In order to foresee the needs and provide tourists with a satisfactory experience, it is important to understand the wine tourist as there is not a stereotypical wine tourist. This understanding can be gained by determining geo-demographic and psychographic characteristics of the tourists visiting the Wacky Wine Festival. By developing an in-depth knowledge of the wine tourist; greater satisfaction can be ensured thus promoting repeat visits and increased sales for the festival, as well as for the participating wineries.
The main purpose of this study was therefore to determine the influence of a wine festival on tourists' Life Satisfaction. In order to achieve this goal, the study comprises 2 articles. The research underpinning both of the articles was conducted at the Wacky Wine Festival in June 2009. A self-administrated questionnaire was distributed during the festival, according to the convenience sampling method. This method is based on the basic premise that the participants are chosen based on their availability to participate. A total of 329 questionnaires were completed during the survey. From these questionnaires, data was obtained and results were analysed.
The first article was titled 'The relationship of visitors' festival experience and life domains'. It is evident that the main purpose of this article was to determine the influence of a wine festival on tourists' life domains by means of satisfaction with the festival. This article indicates the importance of service quality in enhancing tourist satisfaction. A satisfactory experience will have an influence on life domains. Tourist satisfaction will therefore influence satisfaction in various life domains. This in turn influences overall Life Satisfaction. In order to achieve the objectives of the article, descriptive statistics were used to determine satisfaction with the festival and more specific an exploratory factor analysis was conducted
on each life domain and life overall; as well as satisfaction with the festival. The latter was used to determine the influence of the festival experience (satisfaction) on various life domains, as well as life overall. Correlations were calculated between various life domains and overall life; as well as life domains satisfaction with the festival to determine the relationship. From the descriptive statistics, it was found that tourists are satisfied with the festival; thus influencing personal well-being. The results; according to the factor analysis; also indicated that the festival influenced various life domains and overall life optimistically. The correlation effects between various life domains and overall life; presented a medium to large effect. While correlation effects between satisfaction with the festival and life domains indicated a small to large effect. These results indicate that there is a relationship between the festival experience and life domains. It also indicates that Life Satisfaction is mediated by more than one life domain. These results provided implications for festival managers and marketers to manage and market the festival according to importance of life domains based on the perspective of the wine tourist. Managing and marketing the festival according to the life domains will provide the tourist with a total experience. This will ensure satisfaction; future loyalty; as well as increased sales for the festival and incorporated wineries.
The second article is titled: 'Geo-demographic and Psychographic characteristics as determinants of wine tourists' Life Satisfaction'. The main purpose of the article was to determine the geo-demographic and psychographic characteristics of the wine tourists attending the festival. Thereafter, various geo-demographic and psychographic characteristics were compared to tourists' Life Satisfaction as influencing factors. In order to achieve the purpose of the article, an independent t-test and Post Hoc analysis was conducted, comparing the effect sizes of various geo-demographic and psychographic characteristics to the life domains
of the wine tourists. The results of the study revealed that no significant differences were found between geo-demographic and psychographic characteristics when compared to life domains and overall life of the tourist as influenced by the festival. From the results, geo-demographic and psychographic characteristics of tourists to the Wacky Wine Weekend was determined. Implications were provided in order to facilitate the management and marketing of the festival according to the characteristics of participants. By managing and marketing according to these geo-demographic and psychographic characteristics future loyalty to the festival will be improved; as well as increased sales for wineries in the Robertson valley.
The research revealed that the wine festival experience influences various life domains of the wine tourist, as well as overall life. Furthermore, geo-demographic and psychographic characteristics of the tourists attending the Wacky Wine Festival were determined. Knowledge of the wine tourists can be used by the managers and marketers of the festival to ensure satisfaction Therefore, future sustain ability of the festival will be ensured.