Wine tourism is an expanding form of rural tourism which has recently become popular in several wine regions of the world. One such area, the Niagara Region in southern Ontario, Canada, is used as a case study for this research. This study examines the role that wine tourism plays in sustainable rural tourism, and determines if wine tourism can be used as a tool for economic development.; By completing a survey of winery visitors in the Niagara Region, as well as performing interviews with winery personnel, it was found that wine tourism plays several roles in rural tourism and can be used as a tool for economic development. Tourism provides many benefits to wineries such as an increase in revenue and increased exposure to products. In turn, wineries provide advantages to rural tourism such as an attractive scenic backdrop. Wine tourism contributes to the economy in many ways such as it provides jobs, revenue and an increase in investment throughout a region. As long as wine tourism is managed with regard for the environment and the local people, it will be sustainable in the future, and will continue to provide benefits to the surrounding area.
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