A comparison of two agriculture based tourism micro-clusters in Norway and Australia

This study explores the concepts of environmental sustainability and competitive advantage in two agriculture-based tourism micro-clusters, an apple tourism cluster in Norway and a wine tourism cluster in Australia. Wine and apple tourism clusters can be defined as areas that attract tourists who are interested in the combination of an aesthetically beautiful landscape, while at the same time consuming and purchasing the regional agricultural produce (grapes and wine, apples and cider). Agriculture-based tourism areas comprise a complex layer of environmental demands and challenges for both providers and tourists. The use of a cluster framework to analyse these issues will lead to a greater understanding of the differences between perceptions of sustainability in the tourism and wine producing aspects of the businesses, differences between big or small businesses and differences in the way two countries deal with and support sustainable practices. Based on the findings from greening processes in the two studied business communities in agriculture-based tourism, this chapter discusses how environmental action may lead to competitive advantage for two micro-clusters