The Impact of Wine Tourism on the Sustainability Outcomes of Spanish Wineries: An Exploration via Structural Equation Modeling

The objective of this scholarly investigation is to probe the influence of wine tourism on the economic, social, and environmental dimensions—collectively termed as sustainable performance—of wineries in Spain. Furthermore, the age, size, and affiliation with the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) are integrated as control variables, enriching the precision of the inferred causal relationships. A theoretical framework is advanced, and its validity is ascertained through structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) employing data culled from 202 Spanish wineries. The findings unveil a prominent and statistically significant association between wine tourism endeavors and the trio of performance categories within the Spanish viticulture milieu. This research is a noteworthy addition to the scholarly discourse on wine tourism. To our understanding, prior literary explorations have not delved into the ramifications of wine tourism on the holistic sustainability of Spanish wineries. Consequently, this inquiry holds instrumental value for academicians and industry practitioners pondering the initiation or augmentation of such tourism-centric initiatives within their establishments.