COVID-19, wine routes, crisis management and resilience amongst rural wine tourism businesses

Abstract

This paper addresses the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on wine route related rural tourism along two Portuguese wine routes, as perceived by agents of supply on those routes. Discourses from 47 interviews are subjected to content analysis, considering impact perception and crisis management approaches. The results highlight COVID-19's impacts on wine tourism businesses, including financial losses, negative emotions and systemic effects, the latter illustrating the chain of adverse effects caused by COVID-19. Many uncoordinated strategies employed to cope with the pandemic are noted. The research suggests that perceived impacts of COVID-19 relate to business profiles, to the regional context, to the stage of the crisis and specific strategies adopted. The theoretical and practical implications for future tourism management, especially in the context of wine and rural tourism, as well as sustainable tourism, are discussed, including the need for social capital creation, partnership work and product development through innovation.