Australian Wine Tourism: Establishing a Career Path at the Cellar Door‪.‬

The purpose of this article is to examine challenging human resource issues discussed in tourism and hospitality academic research studies and identified in government reports about the wine tourism sector. This article was written to contribute to discussion in relation to possible career paths for wine tourism personnel to ensure a competitive and profitable Australian wine tourism industry. Due to its nature, the wine tourism industry is predominantly located in rural areas. The wine tourism industry in Australia could be described as being in its infancy and, like any infant, it is currently undergoing many changes and growth surges. Substantial amounts of capital have been poured into the infrastructure of the Australian wine tourism industry over the last three decades. Large and impressive tasting rooms, merchandising centres and food and beverage facilities have emerged, along with guided tours of both vineyards and production areas. This growth in service jobs and improved employment opportunities has the potential to complement the male-dominated positions in the agricultural sector in regional Australia. However, along with opportunities come challenges. The development and rapid expansion of the sector has posed challenging human resource issues: * appropriate industry incentives and governmental strategies to attract and locate a labour pool of suitably skilled personnel to supervise and staff these operations