Why sailing when cruising? The motivations for choosing sailing tourism: A case study in Greece

• Autor(a) principal: Katsipi, Despoina
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/26234
• topic: Sailing; Turismo -- Tourism; Cruises; Sustentabilidade -- Sustainability; Vela; Cruzeiros

Sailing tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of nautical tourism in Greece and one of the most important sources of revenue, for the local small- island communities, but also for the national economy. With a coastline of more than 13 thousand kilometres and with thousands of islands, separated by a few nautical miles which can be easily covered by sailing boats with a minimum environmental impact when compared with other boats, it is evident that sailing tourism has a great potential in the Greek seas. The main objective of this dissertation is to investigate some of the elements regarding safety, company, facilities, both on board and on shore, that either have a positive or a negative impact on sailing tourism, while comparing sailing and mass cruises. A detailed literature review was carried out regarding sailing and mass cruises, local economies, and sustainability issues. A quantitative survey was conducted with a sample of 204 individuals, as well as qualitative research with 5 participants. This dissertation intents to contribute to cover answering why sailing tourism is important for the local economies and societies and why it should be chosen as a sustainable tourism activity. It is indented to understand why people choose sailing instead of other cruising experiences, and what kind of improvements could be made, in terms of products and services, to increase the quality of services and attract more potential clients.