Participatory strategy analysis: The case of wine tourism business

After a period of progressive abandonment of cultivation, the wine growers of the Etna initiated a process of renewal that allowed them to place high quality products on the market and to involve in wine tourism with the Etna Wine Route. In this context, the viticulture of the Etna is a model, which has become a strategic component of rural sustainable development and improvement of local tourism. In this study we implemented the Strategic Orientation Round (SOR) integrated in the SWOT analysis, a qualitative approach aimed to create awareness and promote action as prioritized by the stakeholders. We argue that the key requirement of the Etna Wine Route effective management for wine tourism development is the stakeholder involvement in generating ideas and developing products and services. In the case of EWR the major problems among the actors concern the distribution of commitments and the ability to focus on marketing strategies. Marketing alliance between the different elements of tourism could offer greater flexibility in choice, contributing to the development of the image of the area. The study shows that the SOR analysis is an effective tool to interpret the planning of tourism development of the EWR in a participatory way.