Social Capital along Wine Trails: Spilling the Wine to Residents?

Social capital is a vital element of tourism development and sustainability, and has thus drawn significant attention during the past decade. Yet, this topic is still under-researched in the context of niche tourism, especially along linear tourism settings such as wine trails. As a major component of wine tourism, wine trails have been growing rapidly worldwide to further regional tourism development. To examine the level of social capital related with wine tourism, communities surrounding two wine trails in North Carolina (U.S.) were surveyed regarding the Trust, Information Sharing, Collective Action, Bonding and Bridging dimensions of social capital. Results indicated the Piedmont region has not yet fully developed the social capital associated with local wine trails, although residents perceived somewhat strong Collective Action derived from this growing tourism niche. Visitation frequency to wine trails was found to be significantly associated with all dimensions of wine tourism social capital. This study advances the wine tourism scholarship concerning social capital along wine trails (e.g., integrating main dimensions into one scale). It also sheds light on wine trail development and management, suggesting local wineries and wine trails invest greater effort in forging community bonds, especially among older residents, and bridging with local businesses.