Analysis of Motivating Factors for Visiting Wineries in the Vršac Wine Region (Vojvodina, Serbia)

The paper will present the research results of motivational factors influencing wine tourists in decision making process regarding their visits to the wineries in the Vršac wine region, an area which belong to South Banat wine region according to the official regionalization and comprises the west slopes of Vršac mountains (South East Vojvodina). The aim of the paper is to analyse visitors of the Vršac wineries in order to establish components of the motivation and to define the influence they have on the decision to participate in the wine tourism in this region. The methodology of this approach entails: defining and establishing the importance of wine tourism, identifying motivating factors in wine tourism, followed by definition and analysis of the most relevant motivating factors of the wine tourist visiting the Vršac wineries, establishing the intensity of their attitudes related to certain factors and, finally, offering recommendations to the Vršac wineries management in order to create the high quality marketing mix aimed at clearly defined target markets and to position successfully in the wine tourism market. One of the conclusions is that the visitors to the Vršac wineries regard wine tasting as the most important motivating factor, followed by socializing and relaxation.


Introduction
Significant global changes in different spheres of life and business, e.g. contemporary media, social networks, modernized means of transportation, improved tourist infrastructure, led to contemporary types of tourism. Compared to the previous period, modern people express more interest in different types of tourism other than mass tourism. This can be explained by the saturation of tourists with standard offers; thus, the increasing number of tourists seeking something new and authentic by choosing so-called special interest holiday. There is a large number of special interest holidays. The most popular and frequent are business tourism, rural tourism, wine and food tourism, sports tourism, health tourism, ecotourism, and lesser-known and not so common, but still appealing, such as dark tourism, sex tourism, voluntourism, hunting tourism, political tourism, war tourism, etc.
Wine tourism represents individual or organized visits to vineyards, wineries, wine festivals, and wine shows, with wine tasting and experiencing a wine region as the main motivation of travellers (Kunc, 2009;Alant & Bruwer, 2004;Alant & Bruwer, 2010;Hall & Macionis, 1998;Lopez-Guzman, 2011;Koch et al., 2013;Hall et al., 2000;Dodd, 2000). Grimstad (2011) considers that wine tourism represents a combination of aesthetically attractive scenery and wine consumption, while Razović (2015) identifies the most important elements of wine tourism: hospitality, knowledgeable winery staff, wine festivals, stunning landscape, affordable accommodation, availability of information, gastronomic specialties, traditional wine villages, etc. In line with the above, wine tourism represents solid foundation for the development of the tourism and economy of the region (Getz & Brown, 2006;Marzo-Navarro & Pedraja-Iglesias, 2012).
Wine tourism is a relatively new phenomenon in Serbia, as it has started developping more intensely in the last decade, and it is represented through wine routes, which is a practice found in other countries in Europe and worldwide. The importance of this type of tourism has been recognized by Tourism Organization of Serbia that formed the wine routes and thus positioned Serbia among other countries that promote organized wine tours. Sekulić et al. (2016Sekulić et al. ( :1243 state that for the development of wine tourism in Serbia existence of well-defined wine routes is extremely important. The same authors claim that in 2011, the Ministry of Economy initiated a project that defined nine wine routes of Serbia, with the aim of mapping small wineries, cellars and wine producers in these destinations in order to create a unified register. Furthermore they point at events related to wine which are an ideal opportunity to attract tourists and develop wine tourism, giving the examples of the following events: "Smederevo autumn" (Smederevo), "Vintage days" (Subotica), "Grape ball" (Vršac), "Župska vintage"(Aleksandrovac), "Pudars days"(Irig), "The day of the young wine" (Novi Sad), "Festival of wine and brandy" (Beograd). Pivac et al. (2009) hold the opinion that Vojvodina with its natural and cultural heritage has a great potential for the development of wine tourism, especially as the link between tourism and wine is very profitable for both industries, while in the context of wine routes Pivac (2012:59) states that "Vojvodina has ex-cellent prerequisites in the domain of grape and wine production, based primarily on natural conditions for grape growing, but also on centuries-long tradition of growing grape-bearing vines and wine production in this area".
A large number of authors give prominence to experience when it comes to wine tourism (Charters & Ali-Knight, 2002;Carlsen, 2004;Carlsen, 2011;Marzo-Navarro & Pedraja-Iglesias, 2010;Razović, 2015;Mitchell et al., 2012), while many underline the link between wine tourism and life style (Bruwer & Alant, 2009;Carlsen, 2011;Lopez-Guzman, 2011;Charters & Ali-Knight, 2002). Hence, Charters and Ali-Knight (2002: 312) consider that the core of wine tourism is to 'travel in order to experience wineries, wine regions and their links with the life style'. Bruwer and Alant (2009) specify that wine tourism is also related to the wine, as a product, and to the location where the wine is produced, and also make a strong link between this type of tourism and a life style.
While creating and promoting the product for wine tourism, it is necessary to be well-informed about the characteristics of demand-i.e. to consider different needs, wishes and habits of wine tourists. Therefore, it is significant to identify characteristics of the target markets and take into consideration the criteria for market segmentation, e.g. geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioural. In order to create its strategies, continuously and without obstacles, the management of a winery determines most effective and efficient tactics as well as tools for reaching the predefined goals. This primarily refers to the motivation of wine tourists, namely the reasons why tourists selected this type of tourism, certain wine region, winery, etc. In addition to the primary motivation, it is important to establish the secondary, tertiary and other factors of motivation in order to be familiar with the needs, wishes and, habits of potential wine tourists and their ways of deciding to participate in this type of tourism. Therefore, the subjects of the research are: motivation, components of motivation and motivating factors that influence the wine tourists' decision to visit the wineries in the Vršac wine region.

Theoretical Owerview
Numerous authors underscore the significance of motivation in wine tourism (Alant & Bruwer, 2004;Dreßler, 2016;Hall et al., 2000;Bouzdine-Chameeva et al., 2016;Mitchell et al., 2000;Tach, 2016;Mitchell & Hall, 2003;Bruwer, 2002). Some of them explain motivation as 'tension caused by the need driving the consumer to do something to ease the tension' (Bruwer et al., 2013: 6;Alant & Bruwer, 2004: 28;Bruwer & Alant, 2009: 238). Mitchell et al. (2000: 126) consider that the motivation is 'an inner factor conquering, directing and influencing a person's behaviour', stating that it is rooted in values, beliefs and attitudes of visitors. These authors give further explanation stating that wine tasting and education may result from the wish to reduce the risk related to buying wine, meeting a wine producer may be related to the 'verification' of authenticity, relaxing in the ambience reveals the need to escape the city life and 'vibrating city rhythm' while wine festivals represent a convenient location for socializing and networking. Bruwer and Alant (2009: 239) state the opinion that the motivational framework in wine tourism consists of three interrelated aspects: visitor's profile (demographic and psychographic characteristics, life style, etc), wine region profile (where it is located and what it offers) and the dynamics of the visits (first time visitors or repeat visitors).
At the core of wine tourism lie the experiences of visitors, i.e. tourists (Alant & Bruwer, 2004;Cho et al., 2014) and hedonistic needs for satisfaction, enjoyment and entertainment (Alant & Bruwer, 2010;Bruwer et al., 2018) and therefore it can be concluded that for the quality management of wineries there must be precise information on the motivation of potential tourists, their behaviour and decision-making process (Dreßler, 2016), as well as the information on their life style, interests, attitudes and shared values (Grybovych et al., 2013). In line with this, some authors state that 'tourists' demands for wine tourism is based on motivation, perception, previous experiences and expectations' (Bruwer et al., 2013: 6;Hall et al., 2000: 6;Bruwer & Alant, 2009: 238), while Dreßler (2016) gives prominence to beliefs, opinions and attitudes of wine tourists that influence their decision which winery, wine route or region to visit, their preferences and what makes them satisfied when it comes to offers and service quality, which attractions they expect and consider important, as well as their relation to wine and certain wine brands. This leads to conclusion that wine tourists are not homogenous and also that wine tourism is driven by different motivating factors (Bouzdine-Chameeva et al., 2016;Tach, 2016;Mitchell et al., 2000), whereas Bouzdine-Chameeva et al. (2016) explain the diversity of wine tourists with cultural differences, different life styles, demographic characteristics, etc. Bruwer et al. (2018: 355) consider that motivation in tourism relies on the push and pull factors that determine the choice of the destination, in a sense that tourists are 'pushed' by their own motivation, while they are 'pulled' by the attractions of the destination. This is the main reason, as stated by the authors, why understanding the motivation and preference of the tourists presents the foundation for the future development of wine tourism, especially in case of market segmentation. Having identified motives of wine tourists, wine tourism industry can develop the adequate product offering to cater for their needs and ensuring their satisfaction and positive perception. Based on this assumption, wineries, among other, should cooperate with the local accommodation capacities, restaurants and other tourist services (Telfer, 2001;Cho et al., 2014) in order to satisfy a wide range of needs in wine tourism.
Considering the components of motivation, certain authors present the opinion that buying wine and wine tasting are two main factors of motivation in wine tourism (Bruwer et al., 2018;Alant & Bruwer, 2004;Bruwer & Alant, 2009;Mitchell et al., 2000;Alant & Bruwer, 2010;Bruwer, 2003), whereas a number of authors state there are secondary motivation including socializing, learning about wines, entertainment, etc. (Alant & Bruwer, 2004;Bruwer & Alant, 2009;Bruwer, 2002;Bruwer et al., 2018;Hall et al., 2000;Getz & Brown, 2006). George (2006) considers that visitors paying special attention to secondary motivations, pay more attention to the atmosphere, ambience and service quality, than those driven by primary motivating factors. Secondary or peripheral factors are, along with primary, the integral part of decision making to participate in wine tourism and of the overall experience George, 2006). Bouzdine-Chameeva et al. (2016) underline that motivation should be considered at two levels: macro (the region to be visited) and micro (which win-ery to visit and what experience to expect there). Alant and Bruwer (2010) and Bouzdine-Chameeva et al. (2016) add that the higher motivation for wine tasting leads to higher probability to participate in other activities, including educational and cultural experience. Certain authors make typology of tourists according to the criteria of motivation, dividing wine tourists into connoisseurs and wine tourist in general (Mitchell & Hall, 2003;Brown & Getz, 2005). Mitchell and Hall (2003) give further explanation by defining connoisseurs as those wine tourists with specific interest in wine and related phenomena, while wine tourist in general visit a vineyard, winery, wine festival and other wine shows in order to spend a 'relaxing day'. The authors state there is also third category, so-called 'accidental wine tourists' who happen to be in a wine region for other reasons, unrelated to wine, but when they are introduced to the offer, they subsequently become wine tourists. Bruwer et al. (2013) consider that motivating factors, depending on what lies at their core, can be divided into rational and emotional, while Mitchell et al. (2010) offer a slightly different typology, dividing motivating factors of wine tourists into internal and external. Internal factors include socializing, wine education, being introduced to wine producers and relaxing, while the external include wine tasting and buying wine, winery tours, food tasting at the winery and rural atmosphere. Hall and Macionis (1998) con-sider that at the core of a visit to a winery is a tourist's interest in wine and, thus, wine tourists are segmented into wine lovers, wine interested and wine curious. The first category includes tourists with great interest in wine, who are knowledgeable about wines, read regularly articles about wine and watch specialized TV programmes about wine; the second are tourists showing interest to learn more about wine, as their current knowledge of wine is limited, while curious tourists are not familiar with wine, having moderate interest in wine and consider a visit to a winery as one of the attractions at a destination. Alebaki and Iakovidou (2011) propose three dimensions of motivation: experience related to the destination, experience related to wine and personal development. While the authors consider the first two dimensions as factors of attraction, personal development is internal motivation. On the other hand, Alant and Bruwer (2004) and Neilson and Madill (2014) consider that there is a different motivation of the first-time visitors and repeat visitors. In the former, motivation includes wine tasting, winery tour and information about the wine, while the motivation of the latter is related to buying wine, relaxing and socializing. Tomić et al. (2017) point out that in recent years terroir has become an important motivating factor for wine tourists so that their primary motivation is not only to taste wine but also to learn about its origin and to visit the place where the wine was made.

Research Methodology
Survey entitled "Vršac as a wine tourism destination of Serbia-field research of tourists' attitudes" was conducted in the period from 1st March to 1st September 2017. In order to receive the most accurate information about attitudes of the respondents, survey was used as a method of gathering data. In this research, the survey was conducted using "face-to-face" method. The sample of 250 questionnaires was equally distributed among seven wineries ('Vinik', 'As', 'Sočanski', 'Krstov', 'Konte Valone', 'Nedin', 'Selekta'). Visitors coming to the wineries filled out the questionnaire with the help from the winery owners, who were familiar with the content and objective of the survey. Moreover, several questionnaires were distributed at the Visitor Information Centre of Tourist Organization of Vršac, exclusively to visitors going to the wineries. Out of 250 questionnaires, 223 were returned containing 21 invalid samples. Finally, 202 questionnaires were analysed. The 90,6% of surveyed visitors were domestic tourists (183 respondents), while foreign visitors made up 9.4% ( 19 respondents). Results were statistically processed in the statistical data analysis software SPSS 24 within the adequate selection of statistical methods depending on the type of data in order to obtain the optimal model for the overview of influences, dependence and differences between analysed data from the research.
In order to verify the reliability of the questionnaire, the method of internal consistency was used so Cronbach's alpha coefficient showed high results for each segment and the whole instrument (alpha = 0.852), confirming high reliability of the instrument.
With the purpose to simplify the data through reducing the number of variables, the Principal Component Analysis was used. The Varimax rotation was selected as the rotation method. In order to verify that the data collection was suitable for factor analysis, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Bartlett's Test were used. Since Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy is higher than 0.6 and measures 0.822 and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity is statistically significant (p=0.000), the factor analysis is justified. Kaiser-Guttman's criterion confirmed that four components fulfil the criterion for the values above 1 and those four components explain the total of 68.69% of variables. The factor structure was verified also by scree plot. Therefore, Kaiser-Guttman's criterion and scree plot offer unquestionable conclusion for four factors.
By Varimax rotation four factors were defined: Learning and buying, Wine tasting, Socializing and relaxation, Other factors. Table 1 shows factors with belonging segments.

Results and discussion
The analysis of tourists' motivation to visit the wine region of Vršac is shown in Table 2. The highest average score is given to wine tasting M=4.43±0,70 so it can be considered as the main reason for visiting the wineries in the Vršac region. This fact partially corresponds to the opinion of a large number of authors regarding primary motivation for visiting wineries, which includes wine tasting and buying wines (Hall & Johnson, 1997;Bruw- Grybovych et al., 2013;Mitchell et al., 2000;Alant & Bruwer, 2010;Bruwer, 2003). On the other hand, in case of the wineries from the Vršac region, buying wines comes tenth in the motivation list. The second important reason for visiting is Rest and relaxation (M=4.28±0.83), followed by fun and entertainment M=4.09±1.02 and socializing with friends and family M=4.08±0.98. These three reasons indicate that motivating factors related to hedonism, especially relaxing, entertainment and socializing, are highly positioned when it comes to visiting this region. The important motivating factor is also enjoying the natural environment, which is confirmed by high average score for the attractive scenery factor M=4.00±0.91. Other reasons, as presented in Table 2, scored around 3 on average, which means that visitors have neutral attitudes. This means that learning and conversation with wine producer, food and escape from the daily routine are not crucial reasons for visiting this wine region, but they certainly should not be disregarded. Additionally, the results related to the reputation of wines from Vršac show that the wines are recognized to a certain extent as good quality, which is still not enough to represent a relevant motivating factor to attract a larger number of visitors. Similar to reputation, unique experience as a considerable competitive advantage indicates that the wine tourism stakeholders in Vršac needs to put in extra effort to make their offer specific and to be perceived as such. This is primarily related to possibilities to include indigenous grape varieties, gastronomy, cultural and natural attractions, and customs in order to achieve authenticity. The lowest score is given to accidental visit (M=2.04±1.26), meaning that visitors have decided to visit the Vršac wine region in advance. Considering that Vršac is well located on the transportation route between Serbia and Romania, a small number of accidental visits implies increased promotional activities to inform a large number of passengers travelling in this region about the offer of wine tourism in Vršac and to motivate them to participate.

M -arithmetic mean; SD-standard deviation
According to the motivating factors for deciding to visit wineries in the Vršac region, as presented in Table  3, the most prominent is wine tasting with the average score of importance M= 4.426±0.703, followed by socializing and relaxation with M=4.092±0.811. Learning and buying scored the average M=3.414±0.750, and other factors M=3.205±0.764.
Wine tasting as the most important reason for visiting the wineries of Vršac region confirms the importance of wine as the central element of wine tourism supply, or the main attraction that is the basis for all other attractions which are important for the overall tourist/visitor experience and their impression on wine tourism quality of a particular winery.
If we compare Vršac wine region with some other wine regions we can conclude that wine tasting is the primary motivation for visitors in many regions. Alebaki and Iakovidou (2013) thus states that a survey conducted in Northern Greece confirms that wine tasting is the most important reason for visiting a winery. Grybovych et al. (2013) also categorizes wine tasting as the main motivating factor for visiting Northeast Iowa area in the USA. The research conducted by Byrd et al. (2016) confirms these findings, so the main reason for visiting North Caroline wineries is wine tasting as well. Bruwer and Ruger-Muck (2019) have the same conclusion after conducting research in Barossa Valley Wine Region (BVWR) in South Australia.
There is statistically significant difference between male and female gender in rating the importance of certain motivations to visit a winery. As shown in Table 4, differences are present in motivation: wine tasting (F=6.80, p=0.010, socializing and relaxation (t=4.35, p=0.038). Men give a higher average score to wine tasting M=4.55±0.64, while women give it a lower score M=4.29±0.75, which means that wine tasting is more important to men than women.
According to the personal experience, as well as the information gathered in conversations with owners and managers of wineries, the authors of this paper hold the opinion that female visitors percieve a visit to a winery simply as an opportunity to go out with families or friends similar to going to a cafe, restaurant or night club, with the aim to have fun and to enjoy entertainment, which can be categorized as socializing and relaxation as the motivational factor. On the other hand, male visitors percieve a visit to a winery as an opportunity to consume alchocolic beverages, particularly wine. It may also be presumed that a certain number of men percieve wine consumption, especially in case of branded wines, as a status symbol, either as confirmation of the achieved social stutus or the striving towards it.
However, regardless of the difference between the gender in the case of this motivating factor, both men and women consider wine tasting as primary motivation to visit the Vršac wineries. Socializing and relaxation, as shown in Table 4, are more relevant factor to women (M=4.21±0.68), than men (M=3.97±0.91), while this factor represents the secondary motivation with both genders. Therefore, women consider relaxation and socializing with friends and family as more important than men do. In total, regardless of the gender and differences in intensity of attitudes between them, the visitors of Vršac wine region consider wine tasting as the most relevant motivating factor (Table 4), followed by socializing with friends and family, entertainment, relaxation, etc.
In the age groups, there is a statistically significant difference (Table 5) when it comes to the importance of motivation to visit a winery: learning and buying (F=6.32, p=0.000), wine tasting (7.88, p=0.000), socializing and relaxation (t=3.52, p=0.009) and other factors (F=7.71±0.000).
Persons aged between 51 and 60 give the highest average score to the importance of learning and buying M=3.78±0.56, which is given the lowest score M=2.97±0.76 by the age group from 18 to 30 years. These data show that the older population is more interested in learning more about wine and wine production, as well as buying wines, compared to the younger visitors who did not show much interest in this. That fact is confirmed by the results showing that earning and buying have the second highest importance given by visitors over 61 years old (3.63±0.62) behind the age group 51-60. The relevance of this factor, as presented in Table 5, starts to decrease within the population younger than 51, so the respondents from 41 to 50 rate this factor with average 3.61±0.59, from 31-40 with 3.31±0.80, while the youngest gave the lowest score to this factor as shown in the table. However, from the analysis of the factor of learning and buying, it is evident that none of the age groups give it more significance in comparison to other factors, so that it comes last in significance to the fourth position for the persons between 51 and 60, as well as for those between 18 and 30, while it comes  (Table 5) give the highest average score to wine tasting M=4.66±0.50, and the lowest score M=4.00±0.87 is given by the persons aged from 51-60 and 61 and over. Regardless of the age group, this factor is considered very relevant by all and therefore, it presents the primary motivation for the age groups 18-30, 31-40, 41-50, while it is secondary for other two age groups.
Persons aged 61 and over (Table 5) give the highest average score to the importance of socializing and relaxation M=4.42±0.46 while the lowest average score M=3.90±1.04 is given by persons aged 18-30. The high importance to this factor is given also by age groups over 61 and 41-50. In comparison with others, this factor is primary motivation for visiting for persons aged between 51 and 60, as well as 61 and over, while it is secondary for the other age groups. It is noticeable that older generations give more importance to socializing and relaxation than younger ones.
Persons in the age group 51-60, as shown in Table 5, give the highest average score of the relevance to other factors M=3.80±0.58, while the lowest score M=2.99±0.71 is given by persons aged 31-40. Compared to the others, this factor comes last but one (18-30; 51-60) or last (31-40; 41-50; 61 and over).
Among the respondents of different levels of education (Table 6) there is a statistically significant difference in rating the relevance of motivation: learning and buying (F=5.71, p=0.004) and wine tasting (F=8.08, p=0.000). Persons with secondary and primary school give the highest average score to the relevance of learning and buying M=3.74±0.59 and the lowest M=3.27±0.69 is given by persons with a college education, while those with a faculty degree can be said to be neutral in this respect (3.39±0.84).
Based on the overall results shown in table 5 and their analysis, it is evident that elderly people tend to prefer socializing and relaxation, which primarily applies to the category of senior citizens who are retired and have more time to spend actively, socializing with friends and family or travelling. Furthermore, the population over the age of 51, and especially those over the age of 61, experienced socialization period and accepted certain social values in the times of collectivist culture, which encouraged socializing as an important part of everyday life. On the other hand, younger people formed their habits, values and perceptions in the period of individualistic culture, so wine tasting as a reflection of hedonism has greater value for them as such than as a form of socializing.
Persons with a faculty degree (Table 6) give the highest average score to the importance of wine tasting M=4.53±0.74 and the lowest score M=4.07±0.75 is given by persons with primary and secondary school.
If the average score given by the persons with a college education (4.52±0.57) is taken into consideration, it can be concluded that all three levels of education give great importance to this factor, while it is primary motivation for visitors with a college education and faculty degree and secondary for visitors with primary and secondary school.
The analysis of the results shown in table 6 points out that visitors with lower level of education (primary and secondary level of education), perceive the guides who talk about wine and its production as important experts in this area, so they pay special attention to educational aspect and the information that play a role in their longing for the "higher status" in the society, or the perception that they belong to the higher status (especially among their compatriots in their town of origin). Buying wine is in their case a type of proof that they hold the desired social status. On the other hand, highly educated people, mostly do not have a need for this kind of "status confir-mation", so in case they are interested in enology they will find the information needed in relevant literature.

Conclusion
In analysis of research results the significant point is determining the factors that influence decision making process to visit a winery in the Vršac region. The analysis defined four factors: learning and buying (learning experience, conversation with a wine producer, buying wines, good reputation of Vršac wines, and unique experience), wine tasting, socializing and relaxation (socializing with friends and family, rest and relaxation, escaping the daily routine, and fun and entertainment), and other factors (gastronomic offer, accidental visit, meeting others with similar interests, and attractive scenery). Among those reasons, the factor of wine tasting is prominent, which confirms the importance of wine as the core of wine tourism offer. The next in importance is socializing and relaxation, which points to the social aspect of wine tourism. These data show that, regardless of the importance of wine as the core of wine tourism, wine cannot be isolated in its offer. The analysis of individual segments showed that respondents consider wine tasting as the most important motivating factor, followed by rest and relaxation, fun and entertainment, socializing with friends and family, and attractive scenery. It is important to mention that the next important motivation is escaping from the daily routine, which, in combination with others above, confirms the relevance of relaxation as the motivating factor for visitors to the wineries in the Vršac region.
The factors of wine tasting together with socializing and relaxation are the most important for visitors to the wineries in the Vršac region, regardless of their gender, age, level of education, while there are certain differences in these criteria in giving relevance to one of the factors, as well as the intensity of the attitudes. In that respect, wine tasting is the most important factor among all respondents, except those in the age groups 51-60 and over 61. This fact is signifi-cant to wine tourism stakeholders in order to recognize their target market, determine the importance of motivating factors for them and finally to create the marketing mix accordingly. In relation to this, the attention should be given also to the intensity of the attitudes of the respondents. The highest intensity for the importance of wine tasting was recorded in a group aged between 31 and 40, male and with a faculty degree, whereas the highest intensity for the relevance of socializing and relaxation was recorded in persons over 61 and aged 51-60. Additionally, the attention should also be paid to other motivating factors unified as learning and buying, and as other factors, scoring mostly neutral or low. However, attractive scenery, food and, to some extent, learning were ranked as important by the respondents.
Analysing the results of the survey regarding the reasons for deciding to visit wineries in the Vršac region can lead to a conclusion that wine tourist decide to visit this region primarily to enjoy wine tasting along with socializing with friends and family while surrounded with nature and 'away from the pace and problems' of everyday life.
Since wine is the core of wine tourism, the development of wine production leads to the wine tourism development. However, as the research shows, wine is not and cannot be the only element of wine tourism product in the Vršac region. Numerous motivating factors influence the potential visitors to participate in wine tourism and wine is only one of them. Therefore, it is necessary that the investment in wine production is followed by the appropriate investments in other components of wine tourism in order to satisfy the needs of wine tourists. Only in this case the important synergy between wineries as wine producers and wineries as key stakeholders of wine tourism can be achieved.