Wine tourism quality perception and customer satisfaction reliability: the Italian Prosecco District
ABSTRACT Recently, we witnessed a growing interest in those tourist experiences that focus on the enhancement and promotion of typical local cultures, in particular related to winemaking traditions. In Italy this evidence is also demonstrated by the emergence of events and tours linked to the promotion of Italian wine. It is therefore necessary to pay particular attention to the degree of satisfaction expressed by visitors with regard to the services currently offered within the framework of their wine tourism experience. The present research applies a study on customer satisfaction in the area of the Prosecco district, in the Veneto Region in Italy. The aim of the paper is to understand, by the use of a mixture model denoted as the Covariate Uniform Binomial Model, whether and to what extent the high degree of quality perceived by respondents depends on factors related to personal experience rather than on the circumstances in which the interviews were conducted. Results show that socio demographic variables have a great impact on wine tourism behaviour. As a consequence, the possibility of creating segments of consumers based on socio demographic characteristics and consumer behaviour shows the need to consider different marketing policies to satisfy the different needs of tourists that emerged.