The cruise industry has grown worldwide in the last decades and, today, it is often associated with high levels of pollution and overtourism. This is especially true of areas where tourism cruises are a long-established sector, such as the Mediterranean and Italy in particular, where there is growing concern of the consequences of excessive pressure on popular tourist destinations. To reduce such side effects, it is necessary to develop new and sustainable tourism management policies. Our study explores the potential of the diversification of shore excursions offered by cruise lines to relieve pressure on popular destinations. As a case study, we focus on a subset of Italian villages that have received quality certifications (Bandiere arancioni and/or Borghi più belli d’Italia) because of their artistic, historical, cultural, and aesthetic values. Thanks to their proximity to major Italian ports, these villages offer opportunities for shore excursions alternative to some classic and very popular destinations such as Rome, Venice, Pisa, and Florence. The benefits of shore excursions to peripheral destinations are particularly relevant when visits include overnights.

No abstract

Since 2008 the Italian nautical industry has gone through a period of uninterrupted crisis with serious consequences both of an economic nature and in terms of loss of jobs. In particular, the sector of pleasure boating has undergone profound upheaval which has essentially affected three areas. The non-renewal of the fleet due to a sharp decrease in new registrations is the first. The second is the inability to modify the port supply and number of berths, given that ports are in fact a stock of long-term real estate. This has resulted in falling prices and a difficult economic and financial situation for port managers. The third concerns boaters, the driving force of nautical tourism, who responded immediately to the general crisis with a change in behaviour, devoting less time and money to boating. This disaffection has been further aggravated by legislation that has proved almost hostile and heavily punitive towards boaters and boating in general. Finally, since 2014–2015 the Italian Government seems to have changed course and has cancelled some vexatious rules (which weakened public finances) thus giving new hope to the shipyards and to boaters: the first challenge will be to bring back on board the 40,000 boaters who have deserted

The aim of this work is to describe the situation of nautical tourism in one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean through the analysis of the marinas and the sailing habits of the boaters. After outlining the typology, characteristics and functions of the marinas in the introduction, we briefly present the quantitative-qualitative analysis methodology that was carried out through interviews to the stakeholders and subsequent processing of the original information obtained. The presentation of the results concerns the context of Italian ports and then focuses on Sardinia in terms of ports and berths. The discussion, on the other hand, is based on the original analysis of the use of Sardinian ports, the navigation mode of the boaters, including the characteristics of the boats used. In the conclusions, it is emphasized that Sardinia is at the centre of a boating area that extends to the Upper Tyrrhenian Sea, within which it represents a hub and the favourite area for the most important and rich segment of yachts. This, however, does not preclude existing structures from pursuing an improvement in the supply from the point of view of environmental compatibility, of the quality of the services offered and, above all, of a stronger connection to the tourist offer of the hinterlands. Tourist Ports and Yachting: The Case of SardiniaA possible development of the present study may cover other similar cases in the Mediterranean, regarding in particular the specific aspect of the degree of openness towards the boaters coming from "continental" territories.Keywords: Nautical tourism, tourist ports, survey, data-analysis, Sardinia-Italy. ResumenEl objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la situación del turismo náutico en una de las islas más grandes del Mediterráneo mediante la caracterización de la fortaleza de sus puertos turísticos y de los hábitos de navegación de los deportistas. Tras el marco general de la introducción, se explica la tipología, características y funciones de los puertos deportivos; así como la metodología seguida para el análisis cualitativo y cuantitativo de la información primaria obtenida a través de un proceso de encuestación a los agentes clave. Los resultados muestran la situación y estado actual de los puertos italianos y permiten conocer en detalle el caso de Cerdeña en relación a sus puertos y atraques. La discusión de los resultados, sin embargo, gira en torno al análisis de los rasgos de los usuarios de los puertos sardos y a la modalidad de navegación de los deportistas, incluyendo las características de los barcos utilizados. Las conclusiones subrayan que Cerdeña se encuentra en el centro de una amplia área de navegación como es el Alto Tirreno, donde desempeña un papel fundamental al ser la zona preferida del segmento de mayor poder adquisitivo que atraca con naves de recreo. Este hecho no excluye que las estructuras existentes en la isla deban perseguir una mejora de la oferta en términos de sostenibilidad ambiental, calidad de los servicios, y sobre todo, en establecer mej...

No abstract