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C. Gopinath

I LOVE my wine but cannot distinguish a merlot from a cabernet sauvignon. As long as one is prepared to say that the wine served has strong bouquet and good body (two terms that have gotten me out of many a tight social situation), I have found that most gracious hosts are content to leave you alone with your glass regularly filled. But a lovely morning recently found me driving north along Route 29 from San Francisco into the Napa Valley. Everyone said it is a `must see' and I am glad I made the trek. What was even more fascinating than the opportunity to taste wine at several locations was the wonderful way in which the concept of tourism was closely wound around the serious business of oenology.

Napa Valley is located North-East of San Francisco in the State of California. It is just one of several locations (such as Sonoma and Mendocino) in the region known for the fine wines they produce. Blessed with warm days and cool mornings and evenings, the valley boasts about 300 wineries producing nearly two billion bottles a year.

The economic benefits of the wine business in the State of California were estimated at about $45 billion (Rs 2,07,000 crore) in 2002 by a private research agency and this has been steadily growing over the years.

The revenue directly attributed to the wineries was $1.85 billion (Rs 8,510 crore) and what is even more interesting is that the tourists visiting the various wine-producing regions spent $1.33 billion (Rs 6,118 crore).

Wine enthusiasts love to spend time getting to know the climate of the region, and the history of the grapes that produce their favourite bottle. Others are enamoured by these enthusiasts, and seem to tag along. These together make for a mighty business proposition for a host of stores, travel services, hotels, and so on, that have grown in the valley.

My first halt was at the Napa Valley Visitors Bureau where an assistant gave me a map of the area along with information on which wineries were open for a visit, which would offer tours, what would be the cost, how much time it would take, and he recommended a plan for the one day I was going to spend in the valley. Correctly guessing my national origins, he even pointed out to the Diamond Oaks Winery on the map which he said was recently purchased by an Indian family, the Maniars, who for several years were independent wine growers but have now decided to enter the branded end of the business by having their own label.

A free magazine called Inside Napa Valley available at the Visitors' Bureau gave me articles about wines, apart from several advertisements of shops where I could spend money and hotels that I could stay in and other avenues of entertainment while I was in the valley. For a more relaxed trip, I could take a `wine train' that would offer me food and wine tasting while I traverse a 36-mile journey through the pretty countryside filled with vineyards.

If I were more adventurous, I could take to a hot air balloon (for a fee, of course) that would give me a beautiful view of the vineyards from up above with a bit of adventure thrown in. A cultural centre on the banks of the Napa River displays exhibits of food and wine as well as cooking utensils and kitchen gadgets.

The wineries themselves do not just produce the wines but have seen the value being in the wine-related tourism business. The Robert Mondavi Winery had a tour just about the time I arrived and I was happy to join. Spread over 1,500 acres, the Mondavi winery grows 75 per cent of its own grapes and buys the rest from independent growers. (Eighty five per cent of the grapes used must come from the valley to be allowed use of the nomenclature). For a fee of $15 (Rs 690), I was part of a group of 15 persons who were given a fascinating introduction to the history of wine-making, shown different varieties of grape vines, taken through the plant where the grapes are crushed in vats and aged, and finally introduced to the art of tasting and appreciating good wine.

I even got to understand the terms bouquet and body that I had been using all these years. Our tour guide was a former wine grower himself, now retired, and having fun leading tours of eager enthusiasts and their wannabees.

Tourism opportunities seem to be only limited by imagination. Cultural tourism has been built upon archaeological sites or natural wonders and you need the 1,000-year-old temple or the wonderful waterfall to draw the crowds.

But as long as there is an element of interest in an area, a clever plan can package the interest well enough to draw crowds and sustain economic activity. Napa Valley is such an example of how an idea shrouded in good weather and beautiful scenery has been packaged into a thriving tourist destination. Economic activity provides a sufficient basis for a symbiotic relationship between diverse groups of people who see a common benefit to coordinate their activities such that they can draw visitors to their area.

The Neemrana Group in India provides another example of how an idea can be extended for tourist benefit. They first began their business by taking up an old fort in Rajasthan and restoring it to a splendour for which there was a segment willing to pay high prices and enjoy the ambience. That theme of heritage got extended and led them from forts to convert old houses around the country into quaint heritage hotels, with the objective of offering a flavour of living in a bygone era.

There is even one in Malleswaram, in Bangalore, nestled in an unlikely middle-class neighbourhood. This is a theme that the community can leverage and run with in several directions.

A local historian can offer a walking tour of the highlights of the area for a fee. Perhaps, the eateries within the community can get together and produce a map of all the exotic restaurants and the community centres and maths that have regularly scheduled programmes of lectures and music performances. Soon, Malleswaram will become a place to spend an evening on your next visit to Bangalore!

Somebody told me that Kolar Gold Fields is languishing as a town after the decline of gold mining. It is, perhaps, crying out for a creative entrepreneur who will package it as a retirement resort with a nostalgic colonial flavour and trips into the bowels of the earth thrown in. Reserve a place for me.

(The author is professor of international business and strategic management at Suffolk University, Boston, US. His Internet address is cgopinat@suffolk.edu)

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