1. ABSTRACT
ANALYSIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF
THE PASO ROBLES WINE TOURISM INDUSTRY
By
Garvin Boonsong
Master of Art in Geography
http://www.linkedin.com/in/garvinboonsong
(626) 607-4349, garvingaryboonsong@gmail.com
Wine Tourism is becoming an increasingly popular form of tourism in rural destinations. The
economic benefits that come with tourism have encouraged wine regions develop beyond simple
viticulture production. The Paso Robles wine region (PRWR) is an emerging wine region in Central Coast
of California, with great potential.. In the past 10 years, the PRWR has witnessed a nearly three-fold
increase in the number of wineries with strong growth predicted for another decade. This study analyzes
the marketing of Paso Robles as a wine tourism destination in hopes of providing critical insights to future
marketing efforts. Surveys of tourists in the Paso Robles region were analyzed to determine the
congruence between their demographic profile, touristic expectations and experiences; and the imagery
and promotional themes used by PRWR tourism marketing materials. The results of these analyses
suggest that for the most part, the PRWR marketing efforts are aligned with the demographic profile of
the region’s wine tourist, and that the promotional materials are generally in line with tourist expectations
of the region as a unique destination. On the whole, it can be concluded that the PRWR is being
developed and marketed successfully as a tourist destination. It is also argued that the PRWR faces
challenges as they seek to further develop their destination because they face increasing competition from
newly developing wine regions, changing demographics in California, and striking the proper balance
2. between meeting demands for development and undermining the region’s rural-themed appeal from over
development.
3. CHAPTER 8
SUREVEY RESULTS
8.1 Introduction to the Survey Results
The surveys were mostly collected at major events and wine festivals during peak tourist seasons
to obtain large sample size. A total of 163 surveys were collected at four different locations including
Meridian Winery (16 surveys collected), Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce (7 surveys collected), Paso
Robles Wine Festival (104 surveys collected), Mid State Fair (28 surveys collected), and Olive Festivals
(8 surveys collected).
The data from the survey is skewed is due the fact that I collected from mostly wine festivals, and
events during busy tourist season. Even though I was able to get a large sample size by collecting my
survey from these festivals and events, the answers to questions relating to their primary reasons for
visiting the PRWR, the amount of time the wine tourists spent in the PRWR, whether the PRWR is their
primary destination is skewed.
8.2 Demographic and Geographic Characteristics of the Wine Tourist.
One of the things I wanted to find about the PRWR wine tourists was their demographic
characteristics including age, marital status, and education level. I found out that approximately 90% of
them are over the age of 34. Generally, these tourists are highly educated with approximately 65% of
them having at least a college education. Nearly all of them are married. Most of them came from the
Central Valley, San Luis Obispo, and Los Angeles. Very few of them came from the San Francisco Bay
area counties.
Table 8.1
Age Number of Responses Percent
18-25 2 1.34
25-34 14 9.40
34-45 34 22.82
4. 45-55 59 39.60
55-65 29 19.46
65-74 10 6.71
75-older 1 0.67
Total 149 100.00
Table 8.2
Number of
Martial Status Responses Percent
Single 44 29.53
Married 104 69.79
Total 149 100
Table 8.3
Number of
Education Level Responses Percent
high school or less 7 4.66
some college/technical 45 30
college graduate 53 35.33
Post graduate 45 30
Total 150 100
Table 8.4
County of origin Percentage of wine tourists
Central Valley 19.8
San Luis Obispo 18.3
Los Angeles 17.3
Orange County 11.4
Other states/Country 8.8
Ventura County 4.8
San Bernardino 4.7
Monterey 3.4
Santa Barbara 2.8
Santa Cruz 2.7
San Francisco/Napa 1.8
Contra Costa 0.6
San Benito 0.6
Alameda 0.6
Santa Clara 0.6
Riverside 0.6
Solano 0.6
San Mateo 0.6
Total 100
8.3 Trip Characteristics
5. Along with trying to find out about the demographic and geographic characteristics of wine
tourists, I wanted to find out about their trip characteristics, whether the PRWR is becoming an end-
destination. The wine tourists surveyed spent on average of 2.26 days, and 2.44 nights while at the
region. Other signs that the PRWR is becoming an end-destination include 92% of the surveyed wine
tourists said the PRWR is the primary destination for their trip, only 7% of the wine tourist said that they
haven’t visited the PRWR before and 88% of the wine tourist visited the PRWR at least 2 times in the
past 5 years.
More than half of those surveyed reported that they preferred to either plan their own trips
completely. A smaller percent liked to combine their plans with packaged excursions or event. Only 4%
reported a preference for relying completely on packaged travel. Few of the tourists seem to arrive
spontaneously. Seventy percent of respondent planned their trip at least 6 months in advance.
Most of the wine tourists came to the PRWR with a spouse and/or friends. The vast majority of
wine tourists used a car to travel to the PRWR. In terms of accommodations, the majority of them used
hotels in the PRWR. Less than 1% of the respondents were lodging in a bed and breakfast. They are
spending a lot of money as well. The average wine tourist spent $812.50 while in the PRWR. On average
these wine tourists spent $175.33 on food, $131.20 on transportation, $128.90 on shopping, $139.58 on
entertainment, $237.46 on wineries.
The average date between the last visits to the PRWR is 320.17 days, that is on average once a
year. So the wine tourists appear to be relatively regular visitors. The visitors surveyed, on average rated
their stay in the PRWR an 8.64 (on a scale between 1 and 10, with 10 being extremely satisfied). The high
satisfaction level that wine tourists have of their experience in the PRWR can explain why 63.43 of them
plan to visit the PRWR in the next 6 months, and 90.29 plan to visit the PRWR at least within the year.
Table 8.5
6. Primary Destination for their Number of
trip Response Percent
Yes 130 92.85
No 10 7.14
Total 140 100
Table 8.6
Whether Wine Tours Visited Number of
Before Reponses Percent
Yes 132 92.85
No 10 7.0
Total 142 100
Table 8.7 Primary reason visiting for the PRWR
Primary Reason For Visiting Paso Number of Response Percent
Wineries festivals/Wine Festivals 84 57.53
visit friends/family 18 12.32
visit fair 21 14.38
Live here 14 9.58
Eating 4 2.73
Olive Festival 3 2.05
Passing through 2 1.36
Total 146 100
7. Table 8.8 Days and nights that the wine tourists spent in the PRWR
Time Mean Median Maximum Minimum Range Variance
# days spent in Paso Robles 2.26 2 14 0.041 13.959 3.473
# nights spent in Pas Robles 2.44 2 42 0 42 21.271
long ago spent in the most recent visit 320.27 180 3650 1 3649 244082.7
Table 8.9
Travel Package Preference Count Percent
Prefer Travel Package 6 4.28
Plan trip 79 56.42
Both travel package and plan trip 41 29.28
Don't know 14 10
Total 140 100
Table 8.10
How long it takes the wine tourist to plan their trip Count Percent
Within one week 24 17.39
Within a month 27 19.56
3 to 6 months 42 30.43
Within one year 34 24.68
beyond one year 11 7.97
Total 138
Table 8.11
Who did the wine
tourists to the PRWR come Number of Percent
with Response
Spouse 65 33.16
Children 25 12.75
Other Relatives 29 16.47
Friends 70 35.71
Business Associates 7 3.57
Total 196 100
Table 8.12
8. Mode of Transportation that
wine tourists used while in the Number of
PRWR Response Percent
Car 120 80
Rental Car 12 8
RV 4 2.66
Airline 4 2.66
Tour bus 6 4
Train 2 1.333
Other 2 1.333
Total 150 100
Table 8.13
Hotel Accommodations wine
tourists used Count Percent
Hotel 52 41.6
Friends/Family 31 24.8
Other 29 23.2
Camping/RV 11 8.8
Bed and Breakfast 2 1.6
Total 125 100
Table 8.14
Times in the past 5 years that wine visited Number of
Paso Robles Response Percent
1 15 11.36
2 to 5 42 31.48
6 to 10 37 28
more than 20 37 28
don't know 1 .75
Total 132 100
Table 8.15
Average
dollars
spent in
Dollars Spent PRWR
Food Dollar 175.33
Transport Dollar 131.20
Shopping Dollar 128.90
Entertainment Dollar 139.58
Winery Dollar 237.46
9. Table 8.16
The average of numbers of Days between the last visit to Paso Robles
320.17 days
Table 8.17
How the wine tourists rate the stay while in the PRWR (on a scale between 1 and 10, with 10 being
extremely satisfied)
8.64
Table 8.18
Times between the plan next
visit to the PRWR Count Percent
1-3 months 64 47.76
Within 1 year 36 26.86
4-6 months 21 15.67
1 year and beyond 13 9.70
Total 134 100
8.4 Marketing Mediums
The top two responses of how the wine tourist first learned about the PRWR is friends/family and
previous experience. Very few wine tourists first learn about the PRWR through ads and articles. The
Internet ranked as the lowest medium of how wine tourists first learned about the PRWR. The response to
how wine tourists first learned about the PRWR tells a lot about the development and marketing of the
PRWR. First it tells us that the people really enjoy the PRWR as a tourist destination so much that they
tell their friends to visit the PRWR. Secondly, many these tourists first learned about the PRWR just
driving through the region, and liked it so much that they decided come back to visit.
Table 8.19
How Tourists first Learn about Number of
Paso Robles Response Percent
Friends/Word of mouth 71 31.55
Previous personal experience 63 28
10. Live Close By 24 10.66
Other 13 5.77
Article 12 5.33
Wine Label 10 4.44
Business trip 8 3.55
Travel Agent 7 3.11
Ad 6 2.66
Radio/TV 3 1.33
Travel Books 3 1.33
Tourism Center 2 .88
Don't know 2 .88
World/Wide Web 1 .44
Total 225 100
8.5 Complementary Activities
It is also valuable to inventory what types of secondary activities are attractive to wine tourists.
Most wine tourists to the PRWR come to attend the various festivals hosted throughout the year, but
many others come also for dining, shopping, to play golf and visit the Hearst Castle.
Because wine tourism is driven in part by curiosity about wine varieties and the wine-making
process, it also made sense to inventory the level of knowledge of tourists as well as their levels of
interest in learning about wine. About half of the survey respondents reported themselves to be
knowledgeable or highly knowledgeable, with the other half reporting little or no knowledge of wine.
Despite the relatively high percent reporting some expertise about wine, nearly 70% of the wine tourists
reported being either interested or highly interested in learning more about wine.
11. Table 8.20
Activities that Wine Tourist
participated in while in the Number of
PRWR Response Percent
Event/ Festival 133 37.77
Dining 73 20.77
Shopping 61 17.3
Hearst Castle 25 4.26
Golf 15 4.26
Water Sports 15 4.26
Watch able Wildlife 13 3.69
Performing Arts 11 3.12
Spectator Sport 7 1.98
Museums 6 1.71
Hot spring 5 1.42
Balloon 1 .28
Total 352 100
Table 8.21
Wine tourists knowledge of Number of
level of wine Response Percent
Highly knowledge 10 7.51
Knowledge 59 44.33
Limited Knowledge 55 41.35
No Knowledge 9 6.76
Total 133 100
Table 8.22
How interested the wine
tourists are learning about Number of
wine response Percent
Highly interested 30 22.55
Interested 68 51.51
Limited interested 29 21.88
No interest 6 4.51
Total 133 100
12. 8.6 Factors that influence Wine Tourists to pick a particular destination and feature describing
Paso Robles
The top motivators for wine tourists to travel to a particular destination include scenic beauty , the
desire to get away from people, the availability of quality hotels and restaurants, cost associated with
travel and accommodations, the availability of educational opportunities such as historic sites. The
availability of attractions geared towards children is the least important motivator for wine tourists to
travel to a particular destination. The top five descriptors of the PRWR according to wine tourists are
winery and vineyard, scenic beauty, appealing climate, and safe place to visit. Romantic and Outdoor
activities are lowest descriptor of the PRWR according the wine tourists.
Table 8.23
Factors that motivate the Mean Score (On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being
wine tourists to travel the greatest motivator to travel)
Scenic Beauty and natural
attractions 8.15
Opportunity to Get Away 6.63
Availability of
Hotel/Restaurants 6.59
Cost Associated with travel 6.42
Educational Opportunity 5.15
Recreational Activity 6.13
Visit Family/Friends 6.01
Shopping 5.6
Direct Airline Fights 4.24
Available of attractions
toward children 3.43
13. Table 8.24
Feature that best describe Paso Mean Score
Robles according to wine tourist (On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being
the greatest factor of the PRWR) 8.7 Positive
Winery and Vineyard 8.77 Imagery, Negative
Scenic Beauty 8.02 Imagery and
Suggestions
Appealing Climate 8.01
Safe to Visit 7.91
Because
Easy to get around 7.93
Convenient to get to 7.85
tourists are motivated
Good restaurants 7.77
Comfortable accommodations 7.73 by their place
Romantic 7.53
Outdoor activities 6.69 imagery of travel
Great shopping 5.58
destinations, it was important to find out what positive images and what negative images came to mind
when wine tourists thought of the PRWR. With 129 wine tourists responding, the top five positive images
that come to mind when they think of the PRWR includes wineries, natural beauty, friendly people, fun,
and small town. These responses are similar to what I found in the way Paso Robles tourism marketing
officials are marketing the PRWR as a place where people can taste great wine, in an area that is beautiful
that contains a fun town filled with friendly people. With 89 wine tourists responding, the top five
negative images that wine tourists think of the PRWR includes the climate of PRWR, the affordability of
PRWR, the traffic of PRWR, the PRWR being crowded and other. Among the 46 wine tourists who
responded with suggestions to make the PRWR better, the top five responses were to make the PRWR
cheaper, add more accommodations, changing the weather, adding more things to do and adding more
shopping.
The response to the negative images and suggestions shows me that is a place for people who have
money. These responses also shows me that the even though PRWR due to the lack of hotels, and things
to do, the PRWR is already facing a lot of the problems that Napa has such as lots of traffic and over
crowdedness.
Table 8.25
What Positive images comes to mind when they think of Paso Robles Number of Response
14. Wineries 54
Natural Beauty 22
Friendly People 16
Fun 16
Small Town 13
Table 8.26
What negative images comes to mind when they think of Paso Robles Number of Response
Climate 59
Affordable Hotels 11
Traffic 6
Crowded 7
Other 2
Lack of things to do 1
Growing to fast 1
Table 8.27
Suggestions to make Paso Robles Better Response
Cheaper 12
Accommodation 12
Weather 8
Things to do 4
Shopping 4
Less traffic 2
Other 3
