Yachting appears as a tourism segment with proven and specific importance for the economic and social development of tourist destinations Every year, thousands of yachts cross the Portuguese waters. Figueira da Foz is a seaside city and a destination with a history connected to tourism activities. Despite having a marina located in the city centre, the number of yachts stopping by is still far from this nautical port maximum capacity. As a reaction, and to change this reality, both local and regional stakeholders have participated in a Delphi panel to find out if yacht tourism has the potential to increase. It has been found that both the destination and its marina have the resources to attract and make this territory a nautical reference, and a strategy has been created. This model may serve as a basis for application in other nautical ports.

A B S T R A C TCroatia is one of the well-known Mediterranean destinations for nautical tourism which full development potential is waiting to be used. Cultural attractions, indented coastline, numerous islands, climatic and other advantages are not enough. Croatia needs new infra-and supra-structures, which are reflected through investments in new marinas, anchorages and other facilities. Portugal is an Atlantic country, but with a Mediterranean culture due to its proximity and (potentially) benefiting from its extensive shoreline, two archipelagos, and being located in a geographical position where thousands of yachts pass by each year. The article aims to analyse the accommodation capacities of nautical tourism ports in Croatia and in Portugal. The authors have given an overview of the current situation with an emphasis on the differences and possibilities. The purpose of this article is to analyse the legal objective of nautical tourism and the growing need for accommodation capacities in ports of nautical tourism in both countries. The authors have carried out the research and have analysed data from different years and regions. Although more in Croatia, nautical tourism is a significant part of the national economy in both countries with a strong incentive on the local community. The special goal of this paper is to research into and analyse the economic and ecological impact of nautical tourism through ports of nautical tourism and with a special emphasis on marinas. The result obtained and the critical overview has been presented as one of the important contributions of this paper.

Cruise trips have been rising in popularity since the 1970s as a result of the need of attracting passengers due to the air transport development and aircraft travel range increasing. The cruise companies had to find new markets and currently cruising is a strong trend in the tourism market with multiple destinations, themes and purposes. Nowadays, larger cruise liners are also seen as mobile and floating resorts because of their diverse offer onboard. Hence, these ships are considered the primary destination of tourists, while all other (land) destinations where the ships dock are secondary. With this increase of size and services, the impacts have been getting more significant. This constant growth in the number and size of ships has economic, but also social and ecological impacts on the destinations. The general upward trend in the number of cruise passengers and dockings is also present in Croatia’s most popular cities, Dubrovnik and Split (in the context of the Mediterranean routes), and in Portugal (in the context of the North Atlantic routes), through the cities of Lisbon and Oporto, among others. In this sense, this investigation intends to explain the influence that cruise tourism performed in these maritime destinations and two countries of the European south. The purpose of this research is to collect and analyse data related to the passenger and ship traffic in the cruise destinations. The objective is to highlight the multiple impacts of cruise tourism for both countries. Specifically, analysing positive and negative impacts of cruise tourism on the destinations, instead of the importance of cruises for the national economies.