Sparkling the UNESCO world heritage landscape in the conegliano-valdobbiadene hills: Implications for wine tourism and hospitality experiences

Abstract

Drawing on the dynamic capabilities framework, this study examines business leaders’ viewpoints on the expected and perceived outcomes from the recently awarded UNESCO status of the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Hills region in Italy, and how they can capitalise on this recognition in the future. Data collected through semi-structured open-ended interviews with wine, tourism, and hospitality businesses and Prosecco Consortium representatives uncovered the significance of 12 dimensions. Among these, the harmonising mechanism dimension elucidates the increased visibility through the award while confirming the gradual capitalisation of diversification strategies. The tangible and intangible asset provider dimensions identify infrastructural and human resource needs to strengthen the region under the World Heritage regime. Relationships between the findings and dynamic capabilities were revealed, and a developed conceptual model highlights practical and conceptual implications.

Keywords

wine tourism wine region regional marketing dynamic capabilities stakeholders UNESCO world heritage

Introduction

The importance of sites associated with the UNESCO World Heritage (UWH) has been widely recognised, for instance, due to their historical, cultural, or social value (e.g., Li and Kovacs, 2024; Zou et al., 2023). Over the decades, 1248 sites scattered among 170 countries have been awarded UWH status (UNESCO, 2025a). Behind this recognition is an intention to maintain the UWH site’s heritage while encouraging visitor interest (Santa-Cruz and López-Guzmán, 2017) and benefitting from the UWH’s established brand (Adie, 2017). Thus, the World Heritage (WH) ‘badge’ constitutes a valuable marketing tool, warranting visits of individuals taking advantage of their increasing mobility and spending power (Caust and Vecco, 2017).

While a robust body of knowledge discusses the opportunities and challenges UWH sites and their management face, several gaps exist. Associated with the present research’s themes, studies focusing on sites that received UWH recognition in recent years are surprisingly limited. Such is the case of this study’s selected geographic setting, the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Hills region (CVHR), home to Prosecco Superiore, a sparkling wine by and large (Barisan and Galletto, 2021), and the third Italian wine region to claim such an award after Piedmont and Pantelleria Island (Mercer, 2019).

The region’s Wine Consortium comprises 210 wineries (Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG, 2024), with many hosting visitors, demonstrating the potential for wine tourism offerings and further regional development. Previous research (e.g., Contò et al., 2014) has ascertained a natural symbiosis between the wine, the vineyards, tourism, the region’s landscape and local traditions (local gastronomy), all of which combine to offer a wine tourism product. While wine tourism has been conceptualised in numerous ways, Santos et al. (2019) recently referred to this leisure activity in terms of the experiential value of the winery visit. More precisely, the wine, heritage, and culture help create sensory feelings, sensations, and emotions that contribute to visitors’ fondness for a particular wine region, wine brand, or cellar (Santos et al., 2019). Getz and Brown (2006) identified ‘wine country’ attributes transmitted to wine consumers, including a region’s scenery, cuisine, or outdoor activities.

Understanding how wine tourism stakeholders, including wineries, tourism and hospitality business leaders, perceive and experience their new journey coexisting with the UWH recognition could be vital for their region’s growth and development as a wine tourism destination. Wine regions already holding UWH status in Italy and outside (e.g., Mercer, 2019) could benefit from this study’s findings in identifying opportunities or barriers affecting their marketing efforts. Similarly, the results could have practical and conceptual value for regions that vie for future UWH status and base their candidature on the natural elements of the region, including food and wine, or combine these with other local resources such as arts, landscapes, or rurally based leisure activities.

In the aftermath of COVID-19 and its subsequent significant impacts on the tourism industry (Santos et al., 2022), fierce competition is emerging, particularly from new tourist destinations (Sio et al., 2024). The competition factor, particularly between regions, also appears to have contributed to wine tourism’s evolution (Santos et al., 2023). In this dynamic yet disruptive environment, the study will first make an empirical contribution, thereby guiding wine tourism stakeholders in their efforts to build momentum, not only in the initial years following UWH recognition, but also while seeking to recover from the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. Against this backdrop, the study’s main foci are presented in the following research questions (RQs):

RQ1: What outcomes were most expected for the region’s tourism industry following UWH recognition?

RQ2: How has the UWH’s recognition affected the region’s tourism industry?

RQ3: How could the region’s tourism industry further capitalise on the potential of the UWH recognition?

Second, this research also endeavours to increase conceptual understanding, which is associated with notions of dynamic environments that require dynamic responses. As Meskell (2015) explains, UWH properties, together with the inscription process, “produce a dynamic marketplace for international trade and exchange” (p. 14). Part of the extant literature underlines the dynamic nature of tourism, for instance, by the emergence of big data (Stylos et al., 2021) or COVID-19 (Moya Calderón et al., 2022). Furthermore, the wine industry also features dynamic elements, including the wine market, winery competitive behaviour, and winery group dynamics (Penagos-Londoño et al., 2023). Extending from this idea, the wine tourism field presents dynamic characteristics that stem from these premises. Some illustrations include the ever-present competitive nature of wine regions (Duarte Alonso et al., 2023) and winemakers (Harsányi and Hlédik, 2022), as well as newly proposed models recognising the emerging dynamics from orchestrating resources to adopt wine tourism while improving wineries’ performance (e.g., Duarte Alonso et al., 2020). In alignment with these demonstrations of dynamic environments, the following section will draw on the underpinnings of the dynamic capabilities framework (e.g., Teece et al., 1997).

Literature review

Dynamic capabilities

This study aligns with contemporary academic research drawing on the dynamic capabilities framework (DCF) to enrich the conceptual understanding of the themes under inquiry, including the juxtaposition between UWH and tourism (e.g., Ruiz-Ortega et al., 2021). The term ‘dynamic’ implies situations of rapid change, for instance, in markets or technologies, while ‘capabilities’ underlines the fundamental role played by strategic management in helping integrate, reconfigure internal/external managerial skills, or adapt to address the demands of the changing business environment (Teece et al., 1997). A more recent notion (Teece, 2014) stresses the significance of dynamic capabilities (DCs) in how a business “seizes the future” (p. 23), for instance, developing business models, products, or processes to shape or meet continuously changing markets. Thus, DCs stand for a business’s ability to respond to the requirements of its environment through the appropriate integration, development, and reconfiguration of external and internal competencies (Teece et al., 1997). Furthermore, the framework significantly draws on the following clusters:

Sensing as a process involves identifying and assessing opportunities and threats (Teece, 2007). Indeed, appropriately undertaking sensing is associated with companies’ ability to examine the supply and demand market players (Linden and Teece, 2018). Furthermore, through sensing, companies can detect and evaluate practical external knowledge, establish avenues for external cross-boundary collaboration, generate ideas, and subsequently assess and select the most appropriate (Bogers et al., 2019). Similarly, in wine tourism, the region’s potential, new emerging visitor markets, increased mobility among international travellers, or the proliferation of wine tourism information on electronic platforms have been noted as essential sensing elements (e.g., Duarte Alonso and Kok, 2021).

Once opportunities and/or threats are sensed, companies utilise their resources to attain value while addressing those; this process is known as seizing (Teece, 2014). Seizing thus underscores the needed structures to generate and capitalise on activities related to sensing that can result in competitive advantage (Matysiak et al., 2018). Seizing demands investments in commercialisation or development activities, including introducing new services, processes, or products (Teece, 2007). Wine tourism research (Duarte Alonso and Kok, 2021) illustrates seizing through the extension of the ‘wine tourism calendar’, where wineries offer experiences throughout the year as opposed to during specific seasons to accommodate visitors’ travel schedules or by combining wine tourism activities with other regional attractions.

Reconfiguring, the third cluster, stresses the need to redesign ordinary capabilities to match new challenges while implementing new ones; demonstrations of reconfiguring capabilities include processes, structures, and practices (Matarazzo et al., 2021). Reconfiguration is a precursor of a business’s ‘evolutionary fitness’ (Teece, 2007). Businesses need to avoid path dependencies that, while essential and helpful in sustaining a firm’s continuity, in the long run, could prove unfavourable, mainly when a shift in the business environment occurs (Teece, 2007). Evolutionary fitness was demonstrated in the wine tourism domain through several strategies that sought to render the winery experience more personalised, educational, and fulfilling. For instance, Duarte Alonso et al. (2023) identified the importance of vertical tastings, developing new wine brands, providing additional sensorial experiences, and educational elements to remain competitive in the eyes and palates of winery visitors. Moreover, when frequenting wine tourism settings, visitors seek sensory experiences that are exclusive, memorable and appealing (Santos et al., 2023).

DCs enable businesses to build, implement, and guard those assets, supporting superior and long-term performance (Teece, 2007) and sustainable competitive advantage (Teece, 2020).

The DCF in the context of wine tourism and UWH status

This study’s themes feature various links to the DCF. Indeed, the CVHR, UWH, and wine tourism represent intangible assets that are part of host/visitor encounters, including service exchanges and experiences and are reinforced by tangible assets, such as the wine product or gastronomy. In discussing experiential elements of wine tourism, Carlsen and Boksberger (2015) acknowledge the complex interactions between the wineries’ service staff, visitors, the winery’s setting and products. These interactions shape the cellar door or wine tourism experience (Carlsen and Boksberger, 2015).

As highlighted in wine tourism research (e.g., Carvalho et al., 2023), the wine region’s landscape represents a vital resource, particularly in helping the CVHR gain UWH recognition. A landscape features both tangible and intangible components, which are inseparable; indeed, landscapes evoke attachment to the place, lived experiences, memories, and meanings (Müller, 2008). Therefore, tangible and intangible elements of the CVHR fall under the three DCs clusters. Moreover, a region’s positioning, marketing, investing, capitalising, or continuous transformation to remain competitive dictates the extent to which it will benefit from or coexist with the UWH recognition. Further strengthening the associations between the above points and the present research, wine tourism has experienced dynamic development, which has important implications for the marketing of products and destinations. Thanh and Kirova (2018) underline the dynamic nature of building and maintaining a solid brand image in the face of increasing competition within the wine tourism environment, including the choices of wine regions and destinations.

Over the decades, researchers have interpreted, discussed, and extended the DCF’s underpinnings. For example, Helfat and Martin (2015) refer to the framework’s insightfulness, affording a singular lens for understanding strategic change. Aligned with this notion, wine tourism research (e.g., Lavandoski et al., 2018) emphasises the importance of a strategic product, where decision-making and strategic processes are reflected through organisational guidelines conducive to a business model and wine tourism involvement among wineries. Lavandoski et al. (2018) hypothesised five different capabilities connected to the DCF, notably sensing, learning, integrating, coordinating, and reconfiguring.

While sensing adheres to the DCF’s principles of identifying or pursuing opportunities (e.g., Teece, 2007), Lavandoski et al. (2018) hypothesise that the learning capability entails routines designed to assimilate, gather, or transform wine tourism knowledge. The integrating capability, together with the coordinating capability, enables careful synchronisation and linkages between the winery’s organisational department and the operationalisation of wine tourism to respond appropriately in unique situations (Lavandoski et al., 2018). Finally, reconfiguring is perceived as encompassing procedures and routines to allocate resources and introduce new ‘assets’ in the form of innovative ideas, such as incorporating accommodation facilities or tours (Lavandoski et al., 2018).

Despite its demonstrated appropriateness in illuminating wine and other forms of tourism, the DCF has yet to be assessed in the context of wine tourism in a region where UWH status has been awarded. Throughout the decades, an increasing number of destinations have gained this recognition (UNESCO, 2025b), including in a wine region such as the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Hills. Consequently, a deeper understanding of how DCs play a role in wine tourism development in UWH contexts could be beneficial for the wine industry, local hospitality and tourism industries, and also for regional and destination managers and policy-makers. For instance, sensing opportunities and threats could help destinations maximise their potential while avoiding issues that can threaten such progress.

By drawing on the conceptual foundation of the DCF and choosing a territory recently awarded UWH status, the present study will contribute empirically and conceptually to enhancing the understanding and knowledge of the linkages between UWH recognition and wine tourism. This line of inquiry will enhance practical knowledge regarding the potential opportunities of the UWH award for the wine region, its perceived impacts on the region, and how the region could continue capitalising on the UWH promise. A resulting conceptual framework that recognises the value of the DFC will bridge the empirical results and the study’s conceptual contribution, with implications for the wine industry, the research community, policy-makers, and destination marketers.

Methodology

Methods, approaches, and sampling

Given the limited research conducted on the juxtaposition of UWH and wine tourism in the context of the CVHR, this study first adopts a qualitative and exploratory method. Qualitative research is well suited when there is limited knowledge or research about a phenomenon; it is exploratory, contributing to uncovering new insights or ideas (Croker, 2009; Ivankova and Creswell, 2009). As the results of the upper part of Figures 1 –3 illustrate, an inductive approach (Thomas, 2006) was also chosen. The inductive approach features various purposes, including summarising raw data, corroborating clear linkages between the investigation’s objectives and the data summary, and ultimately developing a framework that connects the latent structure of participants’ experiences or processes that emerged from the raw data (Thomas, 2006).

Figure 1.

Expected outcomes from the UWH recognition.

Figure 2.

How the UWH recognition has affected the region.

Figure 3.

How the potential of UWH recognition could be further capitalised.

The voices of individuals with knowledge and expertise, particularly those owning/managing businesses that could capitalise on the UWH award, such as wine, hospitality, and tourism businesses and professionals, were considered to address the themes under inquiry. This consideration aligns with purposive sampling, which involves deliberately selecting informants based on their qualities (Tongco, 2007). A preliminary search on winery, hotel, restaurant, and wine and tourism association websites during early 2023 helped identify 45 businesses and organisations in the Valdobbiadene region. While the wineries in the CVHR region exceed this number, the study first sought to learn the viewpoints of various industries. These businesses and associations were geographically close, facilitating visitation expeditiously and conveniently.

Data collection

After the low-risk research received university ethics approval, contact with the 45 businesses and organisations was established, and information about the project was shared. The message also included a request for a visit and an interview on-site; this first contact resulted in 10 positive responses. Once members of the research team travelled to Valdobbiadene to conduct the interviews, 11 additional contacts were established, including two Prosecco Consortium representatives; nine of these contacts accepted to be interviewed during the following days. Hence, 19 individuals participated (Table 1) or a 33.9% response rate (19/56). Saunders and Townsend (2016) recommend 15–60 interviews as a credible number; while achieving this number by the 17th interview, data saturation (e.g., Fusch and Ness, 2015) also emerged. The semi-structured interviews were conducted in June 2023; these interviews ranged from 30 to 90 min and were audio recorded with participants’ agreement. Participants also agreed that completing the interview was their consent to participate in the research. On eight occasions, the interviews were complemented by additional visits, allowing on-site observations, note-taking, and printed business information collection, supporting data triangulation efforts.

Table 1.

Demographic characteristics of participants and their firm/organisation.

Interview participants - Experience in their industry/organisation	n = 19	%
10 years or less	8	42.1
11+ years	11	57.9
Role	n	%
Owner	14	73.7
Manager	5	26.3
Gender	n = 19	%
Male	11	57.9
Female	8	42.1
The industry/organisation participants represent	n = 19	%
Hotel/Rural accommodation	2	10.5
Coffee shop/Restaurant	7	36.8
Wineries (open to the public)	7	36.8
Prosecco consortium	2	10.5
Tourism (local tourist guide)	1	5.3
Size of the businesses/organisation (in full-time employees)	n = 19	%
9 or fewer	12	63.2
Between 10 and 15	6	31.6
34 employees	1	5.3
Age of the business/organisation	n = 19	%
3–10 years	11	57.9
11+ years	8	42.1

The interview protocol was structured in two steps, first gathering demographic information of participants and their business and second asking three main open-ended questions:

• What were your expectations when the UWH’s recognition was initially granted regarding impacts on the region (e.g., its hospitality/tourism industries)?

• In the meantime (since 2019), how has the UWH’s recognition affected the region (e.g., wine tourism, hospitality/tourism businesses)?

• Moving forward, how could the region continue to capitalise on the potential of the UWH’s recognition?

Participants were encouraged to provide extended comments and examples. These open-ended questions were designed while considering previous UWH and wine tourism research (e.g., Caust and Vecco, 2017; Frost et al., 2020; Lavandoski et al., 2018; Meskell, 2015; VanBlarcom and Kayahan, 2011). The interviews were conducted in Italian by the members of the research team. In preparing the qualitative interview protocol, the work of Douglas and Craig (2007) on iterative translation was consulted. These authors present a model with five steps: establish equivalence (e.g., category, construct), initial translation, pretest, revise, and administer, with a collaborative approach directly linked to the first, second, and fourth steps. Collaboration affords the representation of several viewpoints, for instance, among researchers; it is iterative and helps ensure that the most optimal translation will emerge (Douglas and Craig, 2007).

Data analysis

The interview data were first analysed using qualitative content analysis (QCA) in tandem with a data structure. When embracing QCA, the researcher’s goal is to interpret the words chosen and the individual who used them, giving participants a voice (Lindgren et al., 2020). In an inductive context, QCA is utilised in situations where no prior investigations focusing on a phenomenon have been carried out; the ultimate goal is to develop a model describing a phenomenon in a conceptual way (Elo and Kyngäs, 2008). The data structure (Gioia et al., 2013) follows three stages; first, analytical categories and codes are created and compiled into a data structure comprising first-order codes that are informant/respondent-centric, second-order themes (theory/researcher-centric), and resulting aggregate dimensions (Magnani and Gioia, 2023). The second stage entails the development of a model, where data are constantly compared; in the third stage, the findings are presented through a data-based and detailed description (Magnani and Gioia, 2023).

The analysis also features numbers and percentages (Figures 1 –3). This approach is in line with ‘internal generalisability,’ or generalising within the context of the participants being studied (Maxwell, 2010). Furthermore, internal generalisability helps ascertain that the findings or themes revealed in the research are characteristic of the context or participant setting (Maxwell, 2010).

Characteristics of participants and their business/organisation

Most participants (57.9%) have worked in their industry for over a decade, highlighting their importance to this study regarding gathered knowledge/expertise (Table 1). Their primary role was owners (73.7%) of the business; males (57.9%) were more represented than females (42.1%). Nearly 40% of the participating businesses were established at least 11 years ago, and all were within the micro- and small-sized category. In the following sections, participants’ observations will be labelled using abbreviations (e.g., Participant one and organisation/business = P1 Prosecco Consortium).

Results

Expected outcomes regarding the UWH’s recognition

The data analysis (Figure 1) illustrates the relevance of four second-order categories preceded by emerging themes. Creating new opportunities, mainly through the diversification of winery businesses and the potential for developing new tourist activities in the region, were the most crucially perceived outcomes of the UWH recognition. This part of the analysis underscores the UWH as a driver of asset build-up. Participant 19’s family business produced wine and had recently refurbished a room on-site to host visitors; she reflected on the experience:

We wanted to open this business to have a place (accommodation) to connect with our winery, promote our wine products, and generate new ideas from individuals from other nations… I never expected that tourism would grow so much...

Participants also associated expectations of the UWH regarding higher numbers of travelling individuals, which can be understood as expectations of immediate results for the CVHR. The experience of P3 (restaurant) suggested new opportunities stemming from individuals who travel to wine regions to consume more than just wines or enjoy the scenery: “We have noticed an increase in international tourism, cycle tourism, motorbike tourism and walking. Also, ‘fast tourism’ or short stays of 1–2 nights.” Complementing these comments, P10 (restaurant) acknowledged the dynamic nature of post-UWH award momentum, which occurred unexpectedly:

We received the recognition in July 2019 and were halfway through our summer season. The next day, we received a wave of foreign visitors travelling in Italy who had heard about the recognition. It was unbelievable… it looked like a contest where whoever arrived first would win a prize… I expected a gradual, as opposed to an immediate increment.

The positioning of the region and the prospects of receiving tourism of higher quality (e.g., more purchasing power, a more conscious visitor, for instance, toward the region’s history and traditions or sustainable travel) were also prevalent themes. These themes have implications for the development of a more proactive or tourism-friendly mindset, as well as the necessity to foster ad hoc marketing strategies.

The third most prominent theme was the need to gradually shift from only wine production as the main income-earning activity to a broader and more substantial involvement in tourism activities. Similarly, the springboard to external exposure is associated with the business operators’ mindset change and a more robust consideration of the advantages that could be accrued through wine tourism-related activities, as the comment of P8 (hotel) illustrates:

The UWH award was, without a doubt, wanted in this region. Aware of the recognition’s impacts in other Italian regions, the local business community perceived it would increase tourism and the region’s enhanced appeal externally. There are many more visitors, and these have different expectations... We have valuable wine products, and winery operators expect those [visitors] tasting our products to understand them correctly.

Arguably, tastings can contribute to visitors’ understanding of the wines and, together with the winery’s aesthetic appearance, to their satisfaction with the potential for wineries to strengthen their competitive advantage (Meneses et al., 2025). These aspects are reinforced by the need for winery visitors to be connected to the wine product’s origin, including through visitation of the wine region or the location where wines are produced (Bruwer and Rueger-Muck, 2019).

Perceived impacts following the UWH recognition

When participants were queried about their reflections on the outcomes of the UWH award, almost 4 years after it was awarded, the qualitative data analysis (Figure 2) points to the importance of the UWH award as an instrument to carve out complementary activities. In this context, the added exposure the award provided, and the materialised opportunities to diversify critically affected participants’ businesses and the region. Among other supporters, P13, P14, and P15 (wineries) agreed that the WH recognition had increased the region’s visibility, placing it more clearly on the tourism world map. More specifically, P4 (winery):

More people want to know about the territory and this area, which combines good wine, food and a unique landscape. Before the UWH, we did not have the number of current accommodation facilities. This was a region that was renowned only for the Prosecco. While Prosecco is the main reason [to visit], when they arrive, they discover many other attractions, like traditions, food, landscapes, museums…

Second, respondents’ comments underline the opportunities ensuing after the region gained international exposure through UWH recognition, including increased marketing and sales of Prosecco wines, thus resulting in more intense consumer outreach. Another essential element was the perceived involvement of external companies in investing in the region, thus creating a window for financial engagement, including through the purchase of wineries and other businesses.

P9 (winery) noted this development, as well as the need for the territory to conserve its main characteristics and the complex balance of maintaining the UWH status active:

Apart from the tourist flow that brings resources, we have also noticed an interest among international enterprises to invest in this region, indicating the future potential they perceive. Nevertheless, we also need to be aware that in a few years, other regions will be awarded UWH status; hence, we need to design a long-term strategy that respects the territory.

The findings also reveal cases in which the award was linked to opportunities in tourism- or services-related employment, where new skill sets would be required. These skill sets, in turn, could stimulate the desire to learn professions outside the wine industry or that can coexist with the wine industry, including those that use foreign languages or technology.

These potential opportunities could help persuade the younger generations to remain in the region and directly and indirectly help extend the region’s commercial lifecycle (Figure 2). The comment of P1 (Prosecco Consortium) illustrated these points:

The UWH recognition is an ample opportunity for us. Prosecco is the main point of attraction, but in the future, there will be other attractive factors for tourists to visit, including the landscape. This is why tourism is vital for us. We can keep the new generation in the territory because of the job opportunities.

Perceived needs to further capitalise on the potential of UWH recognition

Finally, participants were asked how the newly awarded UWH status could be further capitalised. Various relationships were identified between extending the region’s commercial lifecycle category (Figure 2) and the perceived need for professionalism among the businesses’ personnel. Similarly, as noted about the second theme, comments highlighted the need for a more professional demeanour and service among local businesses’ personnel. This crucial aspect is also associated with businesses’ ownership and management, changing their mindset to consider potentially achievable and lucrative ways of exploiting opportunities through UWH and the existing regional attributes:

P10 (restaurant): In 2016, most wineries closed in August (for the summer vacation); today, they are all open. Hence, business operators are starting to understand the importance of addressing visitors’ needs and wants. The UWH recognition has provided momentum, triggering initiatives, activities, and events with the vineyards as the background.

Here again, several participants’ observations underscored the importance of communicating and enticing domestic and international clients by providing a more wholesome service experience (Figure 3). These comments also suggest the role of the region’s tourism industry in initiating actions to upskill and build its human resources.

In line with earlier research (e.g., Caust and Vecco, 2017; Wang et al., 2021), the findings highlight the developments required to host visitors. Here, the role of local, regional, or central government and that of private investors was perceived as critical in building, upgrading and creating new structures and facilities to match the future requirements of different visitor segments:

P1 (Prosecco Consortium): We need to offer high-quality hospitality to match the expectations and provide workers with the skills and knowledge associated with the tourists’ expectations.

P6 (Coffee shop): Roads and infrastructure need to be designed to warrant the safety and work requirements in the vineyards… We cannot only think of the tourist: if Prosecco is no longer produced, tourists will not come.

More controllable and manageable are tools and efforts that, as is the case of embracing technology and promoting the region more, can disseminate the CVHR’s attractiveness. The reflections of P12 (rural accommodation) highlighted the significance of communication and currency in technological applications to not stay behind in the age of digital transformation:

We started with e-commerce. We are more present on social media; we also have people who follow us on social media. An image is essential; you must follow the times you live in…

Discussion

Based on the emerging 12 dimensions, the study makes conceptual and practical contributions. Regarding the expected outcomes from UWH recognition, four dimensions help explain this new regime or situation that the selected businesses face. The enduring legacy boost dimension explains the heightened expectations and the momentum the award has indirectly created among outside investors; in this context, the UWH became a driver of asset build-up (Figure 1). The rapid gains boost dimension underlines the unsurprising increases in tourist numbers, while the external change agent dimension underscores the importance of the UWH recognition in terms of growth, as other regions experienced through this award, and by enhancing the region’s positioning.

The operators’ mindset change is central to this first portion of the research’s findings. Regarding the applicability of the DCF, or its relationships with the findings, the qualitative data illustrate the significance of the internal change agent dimension in both ‘sensing’ opportunities while minimising threats and, as later discussed, in the process of ‘reconfiguring’. Indeed, the gradual shift from mainly wine production to engaging in other activities, focusing on quality tourism, can substantially dictate the region’s future after receiving the UWH award. While this item was not scaled in Figure 2, it is reinforced by the comment regarding vying for quality tourism; its importance arose again under the third theme (Figure 3). Moreover, the idea behind quality tourism is associated with a shifting mindset among winery operators that can add value to the winery’s products and services linked to wine tourism, for instance, by enriching experiences and drawing quality visitors. LaPan et al. (2025) identify visitors’ positive impact on rural areas, extending beyond wine consumption, while, more specifically, Byrd et al. (2016) stress the importance of expanded winery experiences where craft production, the landscape, or a destination’s attributes can contribute to a region’s attractiveness.

Thus, while the other three dimensions align with DCF’s notions (e.g., Linden and Teece, 2018; Teece, 2007; Teece et al., 1997), in that the UWH recognition is perceived through sensing opportunities and less so through threats (e.g., P6), the internal change agent provides an alternative way to explain the sensing cluster. Moreover, Baden-Fuller and Teece (2020) note that sensing opportunities go alongside the persuasion of other parties regarding the value of pursuing those “speedily with the resources at hand” (p. 106). This study illustrates that sensing is also about mindset changes, where the business operator is confronted with a new proposition where, apart from resources, there needs to be openness to adapt to new realities beyond the current business focus. Moreover, given that in numerous cases, wineries have for generations mainly focused on wine production, the internal agent dimension becomes crucial.

The four dimensions that emerged concerning the perceived impacts of the UWH (Figure 2) also afford valuable insights regarding how the CVHR are tapping into emerging opportunities. From a conceptual viewpoint, predominantly, the revealed dimensions complement the sensing cluster. The harmonising mechanism dimension enables the understanding of the coexistence between the wine industry and the newly developed activities that add crucial value. The product disseminator dimension helps explain the benefits accrued for wineries in increasing their sales through the new UWH recognition. The asset magnet reiterates the more collateral impacts through investments, while the perpetuating agent dimension again illustrates this study’s contribution to extending the DCF. Indeed, while seizing is based on mobilising resources to shape markets or deliver value (e.g., Teece, 2007), the perpetuating agent explains the long-term benefits that the UWH can help the region accrue.

Through wine tourism and its associated diversification activities, job, professional, and skills diversity could transform the region with inevitable and tangible socioeconomic and cultural medium to long-term benefits. Furthermore, while the DCF emphasises the importance of leadership in mobilising resources, in this study’s case, an alternative to leadership is the willingness to change the business mindset and ‘take the plunge’ in committing to initially less lucrative seizing situations while committing to the business’s long-term future.

The above findings and respective dimensions are also partly associated with the perceived need to further capitalise on the UWH award’s potential (Figure 3). For instance, the tangible and intangible asset enabler dimensions highlight the role of the industry representatives, in this case, wineries and associated businesses, as the initiators in making changes in infrastructure and the human resource domain. Increasing the number of hospitality operations (bed and breakfast, rural houses, small hotels) was further challenged by (a) the strict norms and laws attached to the landscape and the heritage status and (b) the need to focus on high-end hotels and restaurants.

Furthermore, the importance of professionalism and business operators in changing their mindset and finding quality winery, hospitality, and tourism personnel goes hand in hand with the potential improvements in the region’s hotel and tourism industries’ infrastructure. In addition, the propagating means dimension underscores the strategic significance of utilising technologies, being active in destination marketing interventions, and complementing those efforts related to improving infrastructure and human resources’ professionalism level. All these dimensions are related to the reconfiguration cluster as they (a) contribute to the region in building its critical mass and reputation and (b) maintain evolutionary fitness (Teece, 2007) by continuous improvements and upgrades to stay current.

Nevertheless, the policy-related footprint dimension denotes that businesses are not the sole initiators in reconfiguring processes operating in a wine region. Participants also made verbatim comments about the newly imposed expectations and requirements stemming from UWH recognition. Specifically, P6 (coffee shop), P10 (restaurant), and P16 (winery) expressed their concerns about new building parameters, refurbishing infrastructures and limitations in what can be done on the vineyard, rendering the working conditions more precarious. This finding helps extend the reconfiguration cluster; it illustrates that, despite product, service, or business acumen, the legislation aligned with the UWH requirements can represent a barrier.

Theoretical implications

Several theoretical implications are drawn from the findings; these implications and the study’s most salient conceptual and empirical results are depicted in the proposed theoretical framework (Figure 4). First and foremost, the enduring legacy and rapid gains boost dimensions help explain the various opportunities that ensue from UWH recognition. The internal and external agent dimensions play a complementary role, further reinforcing the understanding of the multiple opportunities that can be accrued due to the existing and future resources that could be developed due to the UWH recognition. When Figure 1 is closely examined, nuanced elements emerge, contributing to a deeper understanding of sensing and, as previously discussed, to the extension of the DCF from other perspectives and viewpoints.

Figure 4.

The developed conceptual framework sources consulted include Baden-Fuller and Teece (2020); Matarazzo et al. (2021); Teece (2007); Weaven et al. (2021).

Weaven et al. (2021) posit that sensing can be separated into information acquisition, business assessment and market monitoring. Figure 1’s depiction of the analysis illustrates an alignment with these principles and adds to these notions. Information acquisition and business assessment can be interpreted through current investments and business/tourism diversification, while market monitoring can be diagnosed through ongoing and expected increases in visitation. Again, the internal change agent affords a different lens for understanding sensing, focusing on a change of mindset, which is also associated with identifying quality visitors as a future opportunity. While the dimension does not directly align with information acquisition, business assessment, or market monitoring (Weaven et al., 2021), changing one’s mindset and focusing on quality tourism illustrates that much of the sensing process begins at the business leader’s level.

Theoretical implications also arise from developing the four revealed dimensions concerning the effects of UWH recognition on the region, including its businesses. These dimensions implicitly underline the importance of various vital resources that the CVHR possesses, notably the vineyards, the Prosecco product, the landscape and the territory. With links to tourism destination marketing and image (e.g., Bruwer and Joy, 2017), this foundation is further strengthened by the UWH status. Weaven et al. (2021) indicate that seizing involves deploying resources to address opportunities, respond to threats, or create value. In the case of the CVHR, the deployment of resources takes different forms, including the capitalisation of the UWH. Thus, understanding the effects of the UWH on businesses, or how these seize the future (Teece, 2014) through the harmonising mechanism, product disseminator, asset magnet, and perpetuating agent dimension, provides an alternative insightful approach.

Moreover, the crucial need for transformation among business leaders in changing their mindset to embrace tourism activities and initiatives that could work in tandem with wine production is emphasised. The proposed framework recognises other elements that emerged through comments associated with the findings, including leadership, persuasion, inspiration, learning, and know-how integration. In addition, Figure 4 suggests an interwoven relationship between the dimensions and the central theme of the research, where the dimensions’ themes afford explanatory power in the context of understanding a UWH site where wine tourism significantly contributes to its destination image. The dimensions and linkages to the DCF suggest the framework’s value in guiding researchers and other professionals examining the developmental stages of UWH sites, including those that operate alongside already established industries, as is the case of the CVHR.

Practical implications

While this study’s analysis and proposed framework refer to a specific Italian wine region, several practical implications could be implied with far-reaching impacts, including for regions’ destination marketing. For instance, the importance of diversification efforts to extend the lifecycle and the image-related benefits that the UWH award provides are crucial factors identified in this research. Furthermore, the analysis illustrates the perceived value in pursuing the development of new activities that run alongside those specifically UWH-related. Thus, tourism agencies, government entities, destination marketers, and potential investors could consider the development of alternative leisure facilities or environments that would complement the existing UWH site, potentially creating a stronger destination image. The rapid gains boost dimension suggests an initial high demand among visitors; this process should serve as a unique opportunity for the destination to ‘convert’ or persuade visitors to repeat visits by capturing visitors’ interest and encouraging them to disseminate positive feedback about the destination.

The internal change agent embodies one of the most salient implications regarding sensing opportunities and threats; it encourages reflection among destination providers, whether wineries or historic sites, to evolve and be prepared for mindset changes, being open to new business ideas that adhere to sustainable principles. According to Ponte (2021), the UWH initiative was meant to reshape the region’s territorial and landscape marketing while broadening the cohort of Prosecco beneficiaries. Thus, aiming for high-quality tourism could be conducive to fewer visits yet more memorable experiences for consumers and higher returns for product/service providers.

Further implications can be drawn from the four dimensions exhibited in Figure 2. The harmonising mechanism dimension further reinforces the importance for businesses and other stakeholders to strive to develop other activities that could create new opportunities, albeit under the umbrella of the UWH. However, those opportunities should be considered cooperatively between all the actors in the area and considered territorial marketing strategies to promote the whole CVHR. The product disseminator dimension also has implications for regions home to food or different types of production, as the UWH ‘seal’ represents a vehicle to increase their sales and potentially exports. Developing marketing, logistics, and other channels is crucial to maximise sales opportunities. However, the perpetuating agent is beneficial in informing UWH-recognised sites and their surroundings of the need to build knowledge and expertise. These and other elements will become crucial in navigating a dynamic tourism environment, where numerous destinations vie for the same goal: tourist revenues and further development.

Essential implications can also be drawn from the last question posed to participants (Figure 3). The tangible and intangible asset enabler dimensions provide practical guidance to destinations, their stakeholders, and outside stakeholders that can support efforts. Moreover, external supporting actors (e.g., professional/vocational schools and universities) could aid in efforts to develop infrastructure to address the surge of visits or to focus on quality visitors. Developing future tourism, hospitality, or winery professionals, future business leaders, or training current leaders in considering emerging trends and developments could also positively affect the business community’s mindset regarding embracing tourism and related activities. Here, the propagating means dimension is also practical; it links strongly with the tangible/intangible asset enabler and the notion that educational institutions could play a crucial supporting role, including in embracing technologies to support promotional efforts.

Finally, this study’s findings illustrate the complexities of new regulations stemming from UWH’s requirements. Given this scenario, there is a need for local businesses to strengthen their networks and work more actively alongside these government institutions. Potential outcomes include information upgrades regarding legislative changes and discussions seeking to balance adherence to UWH principles and businesses’ needs to work more safely and efficiently, maintain ancient working ways, and add value to their interactions with visitors and their overall experience.

Conclusions

This study endeavoured to make two crucial contributions. Empirically and by considering the underpinnings of the DCF, the study examined three key themes associated with a region that has recently been awarded UWH status. Interviews with 19 tourism, hospitality, and wine business leaders were conducted. The central themes revolved around (a) what outcomes participants perceived from UWH adhering, (b) how this recognition had affected their region, and (c) how their region could further capitalise on the recognition. The study’s analysis using QCA and a data structure identified the importance of various themes. Concerning expected outcomes (sensing), increased business opportunities arose, such as diversification and more regional investments. More visibility, diversification outcomes, and opportunities for the community were themes associated with the effects of the UWH on the region (seizing).

Infrastructural needs, including hospitality/tourism facilities, more professionalism, and again changing the business operators’ mindset, together with less bureaucracy and adapting to the new business environment (e.g., technological uptake, marketing and promotional know-how) were salient themes concerning how the potential of the UWH recognition could be capitalised in years to come. These three themes were subsequently assessed through the sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring lens (Teece, 2007). The analysis also contributed to the emergence of 12 conceptual dimensions that conceptually helped explain the themes under inquiry and demonstrated relationships with the DCF. A developed theoretical model (Figure 4) is proposed to depict the different dimensions and their associations with the DC clusters.

Limitations and future research

This study presents several limitations. First, the study was conducted in June and December 2023; it lacks a longitudinal element where comparative analysis could be undertaken. Longitudinal research could help assess changes within the wine tourism field and new types of activities and initiatives to draw implications for the region’s future development and destination marketing/promotion. In addition, longitudinal research could illuminate the various steps along the journey of working under the UWH regime, including how businesses adapt or oppose new rules and requirements. Second, the research was conducted when the region developed gradually, with limited accommodation facilities. Future research could broaden the scope to include more businesses that grow alongside the region’s wine tourism and UWH recognition.

Third, the research lacks a comparative element, as it only focuses on the CVHR. With the increasing number of regions vying for UWH status, future research could assess its perceived impacts from the perspective of stakeholders operating in two or more UWH sites. This line of research could identify strengths and weaknesses in approaches to adapt and grow coexisting with the UWH recognition. Conceptually, future research could evaluate the proposed theoretical framework, including the emerging dimensions and the links with the DCF. This approach could confirm or disconfirm the merit of this study’s framework (Figure 4) and enable further extensions or complementing conceptual content to illuminate the understanding of how businesses are affected by UWH recognition.

Footnotes

ORCID iDs

Abel Duarte Alonso

Oanh Thi Kim Vu

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Data Availability Statement

Data are available on request from the authors.*

Author biographies

Abel Duarte Alonso, Ph.D. (Corresponding author), Associate Professor, The Business School, RMIT University Vietnam, 702 Nguyen Van Linh Blvd., Tan Hung Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Email: aronso5@hotmail.com; abel.alonso@rmit.edu.vn. Research interests include international business, micro, small and medium enterprises, family enterprises, innovation, and community development.

Alessandro Bressan, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer, School of Business, The University of Notre Dame Australia, 128-140 Broadway, Chippendale, NSW 2007, Australia. Email: alessandro.bressan@nd.edu.au. Research interests include entrepreneurship, innovation, business and community.

Oanh Thi Kim Vu, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer, The Business School, RMIT University Vietnam, 521 Kim Ma, Giang Vo Ward, Hanoi, Vietnam. Email: oanh.vuthikim@rmit.edu.vn. Research interests include international business, digitalisation, entrepreneurship, tourism and hospitality management.

Luong Ngoc Tran, MBA. Lecturer and researcher. Faculty of Tourism, Hoa Binh University Vietnam, 8 Bui Xuan Phai, My Dinh II, Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi, Vietnam. Email: luongtran.hn@gmail.com. Research interests include travel, hospitality, gastronomy, community-based tourism, culture, and local entrepreneurship.

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