The Grapes of Wrath: Mitigating the Negative Effects of Wine Tourism in Walla Walla, Washington

Abstract

This paper focuses on proposing economic development strategies for mid-sized rural communities dealing with rapidly increasing tourism as a result of their wine industries. These development strategies are aimed at mitigating any negative effects to the community resulting from increased wine tourism while capitalizing on the positive effects. This paper focuses specifically on Walla Walla, Washington but several of the findings and recommendations can be carried forward towards other research and applied to other communities throughout the country. The paper explores some of the issues surrounding rapid economic development due to tourism. It also describes elements of economic and socio-cultural sustainability that are important to developing a healthy and viable economic development strategy.