Promoting experiences in wine tourism and hospitality: setting a research agenda

Purpose This study aims to systematically examine the evolving literature on experiences in wine tourism and hospitality and seeks to provide scholars with avenues to extend this research. Design/methodology/approach The study uses bibliometric analysis to conduct performance analysis and science mapping of 1,181 wine business studies published between 2004 and 2025 in the Scopus database. The authors underscore the importance of experiences in wine tourism and hospitality at the junction of the wine business literature to shed light on potential research avenues. Findings The findings indicate the need for expanding research pertaining to wine tourism and hospitality, specifically in the area of social media, virtual reality (VR) and big data analytics. Sustainable tourism models and inclusive wine tourism also emerge as avenues for future research. Originality/value The study performs a comprehensive evaluation of the extant literature on experiences in wine tourism and hospitality to highlight potential research gaps and help identify research pathways for wine scholars. The findings from the study seeks to initiate conversations on how influencer marketing, VR, big data analytics, sustainable tourism models and inclusive tourism could serve as strategic tools to highlight and communicate the tourists’ experiences in the context of wine tourism and hospitality.