Third International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies

Abstract

The yachting tourism industry is believed to have sufficient social and environmental significance to justify academic attention. This paper studies the impact of responsible environmental care in marinas on yachtsmen´s individual expenditure and satisfaction with nautical installations. In this regard, a theoretical model of structural equations is proposed and empirically estimated, using data collected from 402 sailors mooring their vessels in nine different ports of call of diverse destinations across the Atlantic. The study confirms that sailors’ impressions and opinions about the environmental management of marinas has the largest potential to impact their satisfaction with the port and is the only factor with direct and positive influence on their expenditure during the call. This demonstrates that there exists a significant environmental awareness among port users and a need to warrant that their activity generates a positive impact on those places they visit. Consequently, industry and destinations need to adopt a more responsible position, with clean and green technologies and solutions for the nautical environment, to ensure higher satisfaction levels and economic impact. Findings further contribute to the scarce academic literature of this area and provide the opportunity for developing recommendations for nautical destinations managers and policy-makers, in relation to the design of more efficient incentives for the industry, to promote the adoption of eco-friendly strategies. Finally, this research allows a better understanding of the importance of the mitigation and adaptation to climate change, in an attempt to contribute to the wellbeing of future generations.