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1. Introduction
Tea signifies numerous things to numerous individuals. It has an enormous rich and charming history and can be viewed as a plant, a cultural item, a drink, a feast or an interest (Mediadidact, 2015). It has played a role in revolutions and in colonialization and is firmly linked to the history of global exchange and commerce. Beginning in ancient China and adopted by Japan, tea has become the beverage of choice in many countries such as England, Russia and Kuwait (Jollife, 2007, Ostfriesische Landschaft, 2012). There are other tea rituals and habits, not only related to the tea plant “Camelia sinenis”, but also to herbs or fruits or similar. Nevertheless, this case study is focusing on drinks based on that “real” tea plant. Tea is part of the national culture in countries like India or Sri Lanka and is very important in terms of tourism. For the Chinese, it is the “art of tea”; for the Japanese, “the way of tea”; for the British, “afternoon tea”; and for the Russians, tea served in a “samowar” (Jolliffe, 2007). As a result, travellers may make new, unique experiences depending on the destination and its respective tea culture. Precisely, this aspect makes the study of the potential of tea tourism exciting and worthwhile. Furthermore, tea was often the impulse to develop special types of porcelain, teacups or mugs. This cultural aspect of tea has also been a field of research and a symbol for the importance of this hot beverage (Hubschmid, 1985; Kruse, 1993). While Germany is generally not regarded as a country known for its consumption of tea, the people in the region of East Frisia consume approximately 300 L of black tea per person per year, more than people in England or Ireland (Deutscher Tee and Kräutertee Verband 2020). Following this strong impact of a hot drink on traditions and customs, in 2016, the UNESCO evaluated the “East Frisian Tea Culture” as an intangible cultural heritage, the only tea-related custom ever recognized by the UNESCO (UNESCO Germany, 2019). These aspects are consequently transferred to the destination branding and marketing as well as to related activities for the tourism branch (Wemken, 2020).
Based on this potential, the research approach was to analyse and weight initializing...