Visitors' Motivation for Attending Wine Festivals

Introduction

Food and wine festivals have been major tourist attractions globally as major motivations for travel. It has been established that there are traditional wine efforts that have targeted the wine drinkers across the age brackets especially the young people below the age of 40. Considering that these people are huge consumers of wine, there is attention regarding the motivation of taking wine among these people and especially attending such events not only in their countries but also in other countries (Axelsen & Swan, 2010). The attention of research among the young people demonstrates that they are attracted significantly to such events and festivals that provide them with an opportunity to learn various issues about wine and is hence an important aspect towards influencing them regarding their attitudes towards wine in general and the events in particular (Beerli & Martin, 2004). It should be noted that these festivals have been held for centuries which are developed with a particular reason depending on the cultural activities of the community (Cudny & Ogorek, 2014). For example, a large number of towns and cities globally hold wine festivals with the aim of promoting the wine and building the local identity of the area. This has been noted to be important especially regarding the world wine regions in which there is considerable interest regarding the learning of wine. However, this implies that to plan for such an event, the organizers must understand the needs of the population and especially the factors that motivate such people in attending the events (Chang & Yuan, 2011). The focus of this review of literature is to understand the motivation of visitors to the wine festivals to comprehend the needs that must be taken into consideration by the event managers.

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Gastronomic Events and Festivals

Festivals and special events have become one of the fastest growing sectors globally that have facilitated tourism and tourist attractions both locally and internationally. In this regard, the have been regarded as suitable devices that enhance the promotion of the national economies. Many of these activities are significantly engaging and offer a unique experience hence regarding taking a part in them has become an interest among the visitors (Cudny & Ogorek, 2014). The development of the gastronomic events as well as festivals has been advanced by the increased role of food as well as beverages that have gained importance in the modern tourism industry (Cole & Chancellor, 2009). This has, therefore, been considered to be a major motivation among the attendees of such events. Research has demonstrated that over 6 million people engage in gastronomic events globally where the wine and beverages account for more than 30% of the total expenses of such people. In this regard, it can be considered that gastronomy is an inseparable part of the tourist attractions which impact on the motivations regarding the type of event, the type of food, the type of beverages, and particularly the quality of the wine. Therefore, various studies have been established with the aim of demonstrating how the beverage industry impacts on the festivals and how the attendees are motivated to attend such wine events (Crompton & Mckay, 1997).

According to numerous pieces of evidence in research, festivals are part of the community engagement and cultures of different groups of people across the globe. Therefore, the function of the festival is not only engaged in the enjoyment of the event but is also part of the culture of the community (Lee, Lee, & Wicks, 2004). This demonstrates the importance of wine festivals in communities and for foreign attendees. For example, it has been established that regional events seek to celebrate the community culture and heritage where the special events that are beverage related demonstrate the elements of unique regional celebrations of culture. Therefore, tourists have a chance of participating and learning a new culture that can influence their overall growth (Crompton & McKay, 1997). Experiencing local cuisine enhances the demonstration of the experiential interaction that gives the tourist a deeper appreciation of the foreign culture. In places like Cape Town, wine festivals have been significant globally with demonstrations that make the city recognized globally (Saayman, 2011). The city endorses various festivals that show casual and supremely stylish activities that welcome attendees to the city hence facilitating a way of enhancing the social, cultural, and economic development of the region (Welthagen & Geldenhuys, 2015). Studies have demonstrated that the city has drawn various categories of people in the region due to the ever-growing admiration of the celebrity chefs as well as the popular food and beverage networks (Lee & Hsu, 2011). The wine events in the region contribute to the unique opportunity for the active to pursue their special interests in the food and wine which facilitates the enjoyment of different recreational experiences in the process.

Motivation and Motivation Theories

Motivation is considered to underline the behavior of people. According to Krajickova & Sauer (2018), motivation is a psychological and biological need as well as a want that arises in a direct way and integrates to the person's behavior as well as activity. In this regard, there is a need to meet the relaxation need for the person that triggers a particular decision to engage in various behaviors to meet the particular need. It should be noted that the marketers tend to stimulate the individual needs of a person by making the offers that meet the needs. The motivation of the tourists, as well as the event attendees, are multiple (Tikkanen, 2007). For example, a person can have the several needs that he/ she may want to fulfill which include the need for international travel for the overseas cultural enrichment (Park, Reisinger & Kang, 2008). Besides, the person may be in need of socialization with others in a free environment that is facilitated by the wine festivals (Lee & Beeler, 2009). In this regard, different people engage in various behaviors since they want to satisfy different needs. Therefore, understanding the consumer motives is an important aspect and a key prerequisite to the designing and tailoring of offering to the specific target markets. Besides, this enhances the creation of favorable experiences as well as satisfaction for the specific markets (Rade, 2015). It should be noted that marketers and managers, in any event, should have a wide knowledge regarding the needs that the consumers want to satisfy. Therefore, effective event management cannot be possible without identifying and also understanding consumer motivation.

Several motivation theories, therefore, exist and have been developed to explain the concept of human behavior regarding the attraction towards various issues. These motivation theories can explain tourism motivation in general and event analysis specifically with a focus on the wine and beverage analysis globally (Koo, Byon, & Baker, 2014). According to the Maslow's hierarchy of needs, human needs range from the physiological which entails the basic needs for food, water, safety needs, social needs which entail the needs for family and love, ego that is demonstrated by recognition or achievement, and the self-fulfillment that include the needs for personal development and growth (Tikkanen, 2007). In essence, there are two types of growth needs that include cognitive and aesthetic. However, as demonstrated by the theorist, a person can satisfy the higher needs only when the lower level of physical and safety needs are satisfied. When a person satisfies the physical and safety needs, then they can get motivated to achieve higher needs for personal growth and self-fulfillment (Kim & Uysal, 2003). This suggests that there are pull factors that have a role in the achievement of people and decisions they make regarding the external forces for an object, product, and destination including the activities that the person desires. These external forces include the traveler to visit a destination which could also be triggered by the internal factors that are psychological in nature. Therefore, the pull factors are connected to the situational and cognitive aspects of motivation.

Iso-Ahola (1982) also illustrated a model that seeks to explain the two major motivation forces that influence event attendees. According to the researcher, to attend an event, the person behavior is demonstrated as escapism which includes the desire to leave the everyday environment and seeking, which is the desire to obtain the psychological intrinsic reward through travel. It should be noted that both escapism and seeking motivations have a personal as well as an interpersonal dimension (Kim, Uysal & Chen, 2002). The research demonstrated that a person attending an event may wish to escape from the daily routine of life due to various personal problems (which explains the personal dimensions). Additionally, a person may be motivated to learn the culture of others or recharge the personal rewards while seeking the social interaction which defines the interpersonal rewards (Matheson, Rimmer, & Tinsley, 2014). In this regard, the motivation of people attending events can exist in various categories including the intrinsic or extrinsic. Therefore, people chose to act depending on the variety of needs since people cannot satisfy all motivations hence they chose a few. Such people are mainly attracted by various issues including demographic, socioeconomic, geographic, and culture that has a role in the psychological impact (Jung, Ineson, Kim, & Yap, 2015). It should be noted that the distinct markets like the cultural groups acquire the motivation motives with respect to the culture hence desire special needs for the fulfillment of such desires. Therefore, event attendees have special needs within the framework of motivation theories that influence their decisions as opposed to different sectors and industries.

Attendees' Motivation to Attend Wine Festivals and Special Events

Festivals and special events have been major growing types of tourist attractions that have been significant in the leisure industry. The special events have significantly grown globally and have increased in size, number, as well as the frequency of staging in both the rural as well as the urban settlements (Mcdowall, 2010). Food, as well as wine festivals, are among the major events that have seen many people attend the events to experience the food and wine. The desire to attend a particular event is motivated by the available food and wine among other factors hence creating a major travel motivation for such people. It should, however, be noted that the food and wine festivals not only produce the appropriate visitor experiences but also provide avenues where people can gather and interact. In this regard, motivation is imperative in these set-ups and entails a couple of pull and push factors as suggested by the motivation theories (Mohr, Backman, Gahan, & Backman, 1993). It should be noted that most of the food, as well as wine studies, have been analyzed regarding the attendance of festivals that are impacted by the individual attributes. There is a wide range of attractions and both tangible and intangible benefits that attract people to attend any type of festival that is related to wine and food. Therefore, the motivation has universal importance to the visitors with a bottom line of having fun in the new environment. Studies have demonstrated that first-time visitors are mainly motivated by the desire to taste new wine and food while meeting new people (G...