| Summary: | This study explores the potential contribution to economic and cultural sustainability of fostering wine tourism activity in a Mediterranean mature mass tourism destination like the Balearic Islands. A causal model was designed linking winery visitors’ satisfaction with both the local wines and the visit to the winery and future purchasing intentions as well as the interest in the destination cultural offer, global satisfaction with the trip, and image of the destination. Field research was carried out within the wineries where a questionnaire was administered personally to a sample of 200 winery visitors. The managers of the wineries were contacted previously to ensure their cooperation in the research. The statistical method used for the analysis of the exploratory causal model was the Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression. Results indicate that there is a great growth potential for wine tourism activity in the islands with important positive externalities on gastronomic tourism and the overall image of the Islands. Results show that wine tourism might boost the sales and exports of wine in the medium and long term. Finally, it can be concluded that there are important synergies between rural tourism, mass tourism, and wine tourism in the islands which are still not sufficiently optimized, and that greater support to wine tourism development could contribute not only to a more sustainable rural development but also to a more sustainable tourist activity overall within a more diversified economy.
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