SECTORAL HERITAGE CHARACTERISTICS FOR WINE REGION DEVELOPMENT: THE INFLUENCE OF AGRICULTURE, CULTURE AND TOURISM

Abstract

In the increasingly globalized world of wine, strategic planning of wine region development in small post-socialist countries, such as Croatia, represents a particular challenge. These countries cannot compete with large and world-known wine regions (Rioja, Bordeaux etc.) in terms of production volume. However, grapes have been grown on the teritory of the present-day Croatia for several thousand years and pronouced traditional heritage resulting from economic underdevelopment still characterizes Croatian wine regions. Therefore Croatian winemakers, being restricted to making only small quantities of wine, cannot compete against large, well-known producers, but they can still compete from a tourism perspective. This paper aims at conceptualizing a model of wine region revival based on characteristics of traditional heritage. The conclusion is reached by: determining the characteristics of traditional heritage in the three most important sectors (agriculture, culture and tourism) related to wine production and sales, identifying the use of traditional heritage characteristics in sectoral development plans and analysing the results of a survey conducted by destination management organizations of rural municipalities on perceptions of traditional heritage in wine tourism development.