Those are the four categories of people who traverse Northern Tasmanian wine regions, according to new research by the University of Tasmania.

The study has captured the precise movements of people sampling paddock to plate (or vine to glass) experiences in the wine regions of Northern Tasmania.

It's the first time such a study has been conducted, and provides industry with detailed and accurate data to support future plans. The data was collected from 86 participants visiting cellar doors in the Tamar Valley and Pipers River wine growing areas in 2016-17, using geographic information system (GIS) mapping technology in either a custom-built app or mobile phone.

Tasmanian School of Business and Economics researcher Gemma Lewis, who led the pilot study, said the findings provided industry with a new level of detail and insight into wine tourist behaviour that had not been previously available.

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"The wine industry is a significant industry for Tasmania, contributing around $115 million per annum to the economy. Of that, about $15 million is contributed through wine tourism and people visiting cellar doors and attending wine festivals and so forth," Dr Lewis said.

"The number of tourists that are visiting cellar doors continues to grow year-on year, so it's really interesting and important to drill down into their behaviour and what types of cellar doors they're visiting in which areas."

The four categories were defined as:

Dr Lewis and her team found that certain cellar doors attracted more wine tourists than others, potentially due to their location, their offering (including food), and their marketing and branding.

"Our results also suggest that collaborative marketing between cellar doors and possibly other attractions is beneficial, as several wine tourists in this sample visited more than one cellar door and patterns were apparent," she said.

The research was conducted by the University of Tasmania in partnership with Wine Tasmania.