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Introduction
The British Columbia wine industry has been working over the past decade to manage the transition of grape and wine producers from a floundering regionally based sector of the province's agricultural economy to a more productive and competitive industry, capable of competing in worldwide markets. As an initial stage in this transition the industry has focused on improving the quality of its wine products. This has involved a wide range of programs including eliminating labrusca and hybrid grape plantings that produced low quality wines and replacing them with vinifera grape varieties capable of producing premium quality products; creating a standards and certification program for the identification and marketing of premium wines; and establishing a coordinating body (British Columbia Wine Institute) for the development of technical and marketing program designed to support premium wine production and market acceptance. These efforts have met with significant success. Over the past decade the number of wineries has increased from 14 in 1989 to 53; wine grape acreage has shifted from 1500 acres of low quality to an estimated 4,300 acres of high quality grape production; and the sale of top quality BC wines now exceed $40 million dollars annually (BCWI, 2000).
Notwithstanding these achievements the province's wine industry is challenged by several realities. These include a rapidly growing inventory of wine products which are not being sold (50% in 1998); a growing international surplus of highly competitive wine products; production subsidies and restrictive access regulations in potential export markets; and low returns on investment for wine producers. In one form or another, there is a recognized need for strategies, which increase opportunities for domestic as well as international market exposure, as well as value added wine product sales (BCWI, 1999). While the industry has placed considerable effort on developing cooperative marketing programs for the distribution and retailing of wines through traditional government distribution channels, little emphasis has centered on developing strategic alliances with tourism partners.
Emerging initiatives in British Columbia and elsewhere clearly suggests that by working with tourism stakeholders, the wine industry can not only contribute to the development of rural tourism, but it can also gain valuable direct marketing and value added sales advantages. For these benefits to be fully realized, more must be known...