Testing the Implications of an Integrated Rural Tourism Framework for the Niagara Wine Region

Tourism, in general, can contribute to and integrate with rural economies for rural development through industry associations and community participation (Saxena et al., 2007), as well as act as a storehouse for “natural and historical heritage” (Lane, 1994, p. 103). As realization that tourism can benefit local areas increases, so too has the discussion around tourism as a tool for rural areas. In 2007, building on the concept of Integrated Rural Development (IRD), Saxena et al. first discussed the concept of Integrated Rural Tourism (IRT). IRT was suggested as an approach to understanding the complexities of rural tourism through an examination of seven components (networking, scale, endogeneity, sustainability, embeddedness, complementarity, and empowerment), and as a means for exploring the ability of tourism to produce benefits for the rural area.

In the past, IRT has been used to examine how tourism has aided rural development in Europe and the US; however, its use in Canada, and more specifically the Niagara Peninsula, has yet to be realized. Using the Niagara Peninsula Appellation (NPA), the largest wine region in Ontario and Canada, as the case study, this project involved interviewing 17 wineries and five industry associations, in an attempt to answer two specific questions: (1) how does the wine industry and wine tourism aid in the development of Niagara’s rural area using the IRT concept, and (2) how can IRT aid in rural development through direct, experiential, conservation, development, and synergistic benefits.

While there is still work to be done to improve upon tourism’s positive impacts in Niagara and its peripheral rural areas more generally, this dissertation has found that wine tourism has produced direct, experiential, conservational, and synergistic benefits for the Niagara Region. While there were also some developmental benefits, there is greater need for community engagement and improved industry synergy.

Furthermore, this dissertation has found that the concept of IRT provides a reasonable framework through which to analyze the ability of wine tourism to benefit rural areas, although the addition of a focus on the marketing efforts and future goals of the area are needed.