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The purpose of this paper is to identify the drivers of customer satisfaction (CS) and sales performance at wineries in the Finger Lakes region of New York State in the context of changes winery tasting rooms implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A survey was administered to tasting room visitors at two wineries in October 2020 in the Finger Lakes region of New York State resulting in 215 usable survey responses measuring customer satisfaction. A factor analysis was used to identify primary factors influencing overall CS. The authors then modeled how these primary factors, along with various demographic factors, influence sales metrics. The results are then compared with previous estimates of such drivers in pre-COVID tasting rooms.

The authors identified four main CS factors: Staff Interactions, Wine Tasting, COVID-19 Precautions and Ambience that play a significant role in overall CS. Of these, Wine Tasting was shown to have a positive influence on total amount spent and the number of bottles purchased, whereas COVID-19 Precautions positively impacted the number of bottles purchased. Overall, CS is also shown to positively impact total amount spent and number of bottles purchased. Customers are shown to prefer some changes to the tasting room due to COVID-19, such as having table service and reservations.

This is the first study researching the influence of certain tasting room changes implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic has had on CS and wine-purchasing decisions in tasting rooms.

The purpose of this paper is to study the linkages between customer satisfaction (CS) and sales performance among wineries in New York State's Finger Lakes region.

A survey instrument was used to collect data from visitors to winery tasting rooms in the Finger Lakes. Responses from 457 visitors were collected from nine wineries during the period June 2010 through November 2010. The authors used a factor analysis to identify the primary drivers of CS. Then, the authors modeled the relationship between these drivers and overall CS and assessed the impact of CS on sales, purchase and repurchase intentions.

The authors found five principal drivers of CS: ambience, tasting protocol, service, retail execution, and tasting experience. Of these, ambience and service exerted the most influence on overall CS. Furthermore, as expected, CS significantly influences purchase intentions, the amount of dollars spent and quantity purchased.

The results provide valuable information to winery tasting room managers/owners on measures they can use to improve sales performance. Identifying attributes of the tasting room that generate a positive customer reaction can help winery managers/owners make profit-maximizing decisions.

While the links between CS and sales performance have been established in other product sectors, few studies have focused on a comprehensive assessment of CS and sales performance in wine tasting rooms.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights to relevant theories, challenges and the future opportunities for binational tourism in the Niagara region.

A selected cross‐section of relevant publications including news media items are reviewed. Data gathered by a group of graduate students from Niagara College during their externships with the Binational Tourism Alliance, are utilized. Binational tourism initiatives from different parts of the world are analyzed.

This paper implies that in order to strategize binational tourism in Niagara, relevant theories, international best practices, historic developments of binational initiatives in Niagara as well as news media reports should be analysed. It concludes that Niagara's tourism industry, on both sides of the border, must continue to work in close partnership on their binational tourism strategy and binational positioning in order to remain competitive as a major tourist destination in the world.

Inputs from the Executive Director of the Binational Tourism Alliance of the Niagara region as a co‐author, enhances the practical value of this paper. Not much research has been undertaken on the topic of binational tourism in Niagara. Therefore, particularly, the tourism policy makers as well as other stakeholders of tourism in the Niagara region should benefit from this paper.

This study aims to determine white wine drinkers’ interest in Grüner Veltliner wine, a potential signature wine for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the USA and identify the consumer segments likely to look for and purchase this wine varietal.

A total of 676 wine consumers from the Mid-Atlantic region in the USA were compared based on familiarity with Grüner Veltliner wine, variety-seeking (VARSEEK) scores and the likelihood of looking for and purchasing Pennsylvania Grüner Veltliner wine.

Although only a third of participants had some experience with Grüner Veltliner wine, 77% were “somewhat interested” to “very interested” in being able to sample and taste the wine, and 66%–67% were “somewhat likely” to “very likely” to look for and purchase the wine from both growing regions. Generation, wine consumption behavior and familiarity with Pennsylvania wine and Grüner Veltliner wine differed between participants based on purchase intent and VARSEEK scores (i.e. low VARSEEK/likely, high VARSEEK/unlikely). Differences in factors motivating Grüner Veltliner purchasing were also identified between low VARSEEK/likely and high VARSEEK/likely participants.

The paper presents evidence of potential demand for a signature wine from an emerging wine region. This provides direction for target marketing and related promotional strategy, along with identifying wine consumers interested in tasting and purchasing the wine.

In a world in which “England's green and pleasant land” sets the standard for garden excellence, gardeners in much of the United States will struggle in vain to adapt the British style to their own volatile climates. American regional gardening literature offers a new vision to help gardeners throughout the United States select plants suited to their climates (especially native plants) and use techniques to prevent losses to cold, heat, humidity, or drought. The resulting gardens may not always resemble the traditional English her baceous border, but their beauty and vigor will enhance the often monotonous American suburban landscape.

This paper aims to report on a study of wine regions in five countries that assessed whether and how wineries use their web sites to provide information to and attract wine tourists.

Content analysis of winery web sites from wine regions in five countries (Australia, Canada, Chile, France, USA) was conducted.

While the majority of wineries in the study utilized web sites to provide information to consumers, there were significant differences in the effectiveness with which they did so. Wineries desiring to attract tourist visitors should ensure that basic information content is present (e.g. hours of operation, directions to the winery). Although some wineries have begun to engage consumers on mobile platforms, more can be done to ensure access to information at all stages of the tourist visit process.

Due to time and budget constraints, the study evaluated the web sites in only some wine regions of five wine-producing countries. Future researchers can build on this study by evaluating winery web sites in additional wine regions and countries.

The authors identify practical ways in which wineries can enhance the information they provide via their web sites to attract winery visitors and augment cellar door sales.

Previous research has examined winery web sites at the level of the destination marketing organization or individual winery within a country; the authors look at individual winery web sites in international comparison. Wineries seeking to attract tourists to their cellar door operations can thus evaluate their online communications in comparison with national and international competitors and best practices.

Highway signage programs are important to the success of winery tourism industry. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the regulatory environment US wineries operate under in regards to highway signage programs. The goal then is to compare wine tourism-related highway signage programs in the USA and identify best practices for the programs.

Twenty-six programs from 13 US states are included in this study. Research collected both primary data (through interviews with 30 officials and representatives) and secondary data (from websites, government publications) to identify the costs, regulations and rules of each program.

A review of these programs shows that while there are many common elements in these programs, all are managed differently, have different operational and facility requirements for participation and vary in cost.

Highway signage programs related to winery tourism are best administered by a single state-wide governmental agency or foundations/trusts. Second, highway signage program should link with a separate certification program for the wineries which guarantees a certain minimum amount of local content. Winery owners and officials interviewed also emphasized the need for synergy among neighboring wineries to facilitate winery tourism.

Limited research has been conducted about the regulatory environment of signage programs that are specific to the wine industry in the USA. This study begins to address this gap in the literature by presenting an overview and best practices of 26 wine tourism-related highway signage programs from 13 different states across the USA.

This study aims to analyze the wine industry’s response to changing societal attitudes towards the environment. Environmental considerations are now an increasingly important factor in both production and purchasing behavior. While many eco-certifications exist, there is still consumer confusion between the multitude of eco wine certifications, lack of clarity about what consumers think about the wines, and not enough data about their willingness to pay (WTP) for these environmental characteristics.

This study clarifies what the various wine eco certifications are, quantifies consumer knowledge and ascertains their WTP for five environmental or sustainable wine certifications, namely, biodynamic, fair trade, organic, natural and sustainable. The authors surveyed 456 wine drinkers in the USA.

The authors found that millennials, women, unmarried individuals, those purchasing eco-certified foods, low-income individuals and those looking to celebrate a special occasion have a higher WTP for eco-certified wines compared to respondents who are older, male, married, do not buy eco-certified goods, have higher incomes and are purchasing the wine for a regular occasion. They recommend marketing and targeting those in the former group for environmental or sustainable wines.

The study is the only research project, of this kind, to evaluate five types of eco-certifications for wine in a single WTP analysis.

The purpose of this paper to develop an empirical methodology for managing spatial basis risk in weather index insurance by studying the fundamental causes for differences in weather risk between distributed locations.

The paper systematically compares insurance payouts at nearby locations based on differences in geographical characteristics. The geographic characteristics include distance between stations and differences in altitude, latitude, and longitude.

Geographic differences are poor predictors of payouts. The strongest predictor of payout at a given location is payout at nearby location. However, altitude has a persistent effect on heat risk and distance between stations increases payout discrepancies for precipitation risk.

Given that payouts in a given area are highly correlated, it may be possible to insure multiple weather stations in a single contract as a “risk portfolio” for any one location.

Spatial basis risk is a fundamental problem of index insurance and yet is still largely unexplored in the literature.

Wine tourism literature still falls behind other streams of research in its ability to assess phenomena associated with the implementation of digital practices to address strategic challenges. Moreover, studies on social media in tourism and hospitality prioritize the relationship between tourists’ behavioural aspects and technology. Relationships, experiences and timely responses on the digital environment are particularly important, taken the ‘new normal’ which COVID-19 necessitates. Within this framework, the present case study explores the role of social media (Facebook in specific) in the effort of Cretan wineries to respond to new encounters, as well as the importance, if any, of collaborative practices for developing online strategies of individual businesses. Findings help us identify (a) the role of the winescape studies in exploring the digital environment and (b) the main communication priorities of wineries as expressed through social media during the pandemic crisis.