Tourism Marketing

Tourism is one of the most important economic activities in some countries. However, the coastal and maritime activities could be an interesting segment to explore in accordance with good promotion of the destination. Tourism marketing is a tool available for the managers that could establish a great connection between the visitors and the destinations, particularly if the promotions focus on the blue and the green economy. With some specific procedures, it is possible to take advantage in a competitive market that needs clear rules about the environment.

Eco-Innovation in Coastal Hotels

The discussion on coastal hotels' green products is usually one-sided, with a focus on supply or on demand. In this investigation, authors perceive the way both sides think concerning to green products and to what extent exists a correspondence. Supported in a quantitative study in a coastal hotel sample and in another qualitative and quantitative study on a sample of tourists, two models are tested. The results suggest that coastal hotel green strategies should be more market-centric than just complying with regulations. The tourist model permitted to perceive that tourists who are more sensitive to environmental issues are willing to pay more and recommend green hotels, but this relationship should be better understood by coastal hotel decision makers to align their green strategy and communication.

Sea Tourism Heritage in Portuguese Coastal Territory

Portugal has 1,860 km of coastline and therefore has always had a strong element of value and cultural expression in the sea. This chapter presents a study that gives meaning to key cultural elements in Portuguese sun-and-sea destinations, integrating their heritage value and intangible cultural significance. Authors show how two large groups of heritage elements associated with the sea can be integrated into forms of visitation and leisure (lighthouses, forts and coastal garrisons). These heritage elements increasingly integrate tourism, diversifying and valuing it. Adding to these elements of material heritage, it is also important to refer to elements of intangible expression that are a reference for the life of the populations connected to the sea. Particular attention will be paid to the Xávega Art, and to the Rendas de Bilros handicraft, considering their inventory and safeguard.

Nautical Stations

The Nautical Station concept is achieved through the establishment and/or assertion (depending on the extent of maturity) of a tourist destination arranged from maritime products that value, in a unified way, all the resources of a territory (foundation, environment, and sociocultural roots) and all the touristic offer already existing in this regional area. It combines a set of nautical activities that forms the central element of product management, based on a local/regional partnership, according to a set of quality criteria to be defined by the certifying entity, which in the Portuguese case is Forum Oceano – Association of Maritime Economy. This chapter analyzes the development of the certification process of the Portuguese Nautical Stations, the theoretical model that manages it, and its application to reality based on the study case constructed by the Nautical Station of Sines, one of the first 15 certified in Portugal.

The Sea by Tradition

Tourism is considered an important tool for the economic growth of territories. However, in an increasingly competitive market, for destinations to stand out from others, it is crucial to build their image considering attributes that are important not only for tourists but above all, for local communities and stakeholders. Additionally, for territories to preserve their functional and symbolic dimensions, it is important to invest in clustering and networking strategies that may strengthen them at local and global levels. In that sense, this chapter presents the trajectory of Ílhavo, a municipality in central Portugal, that reformulated its territorial strategy by defining the sea as the core element that links its past, present, and future. Furthermore, the chapter describes the implementation of the aforementioned strategy, from 1998-2018, reflecting on their implications in terms of brand image and tourism development.

Products in Maritime and Costal Tourism

Coasteering is a recent nautical, nature, and adventure tourism activity with prospects for both services providers and regions of practice. In coastal settings with promising natural features, coasteering allows diversifying the supply of activities and experiences with large emotional value. Knowledge about this product, together with key aspects for structuring the tourist experience and its commercialization, are relevant to regions where coasteering can add value for both tourism and leisure. The main objectives of this chapter are to characterize coasteering and to analyze its potential as a tourism product. The analysis of cases in the United Kingdom and in Portugal supports the definition of proposals for the evaluation of this product in diverse coastal settings in these countries.

Responsible Nature Tourism Development Models

Recent decades have revealed profound changes in population leisure paradigms, strengthening social representations attributed to the enjoyment of natural spaces and leading to the growth of informed, demanding, and conscious visitors. Responsible nature tourism assumes a continuous growth in tourism destinations and their marketing strategies. Without the attractiveness of the hot-water islands, the Azores follow a development model towards differentiation factors based on the quality and notoriety of the destination privileging, among others, specialized markets anchored in this territory's main resources and potentialities. The current expression of whale watching in these islands, assumed as one of the main representations of nautical tourism in the region, seems to raise important questions about the real impacts of its practice. This chapter proposes to synthesize this segment as a case study, presenting a successful and recurrent sustainable product and several valorisation strategies to promote its responsible development.

Human Resources Management for Sustainable Sea Tourism

This chapter proposes an analysis of the relationship between HRM and the sustainable development of organizations in the coastal and maritime tourism sector. Tourism has contributed to both GDP and employment increases, mainly in countries with coastal areas. Tourism growth in coastal and maritime areas negatively impacts the landscape and environment in the various coastal regions, raising pressures to go green. Two factors that have delayed the existence of comprehensive studies in this sector is the enormous diversity of activity areas covered and the pluridimensionality of this theme. The goal of green human resource management is to promote the performance of organizational environment through greater involvement and employee's commitment to the environment. This chapter develops and deepens the analysis of the relationship between green human resource management and the sustainable development of organizations in coastal and maritime tourism and environmental sustainability.

Creative Tourism and Creative Entrepreneurs on Coastal Locations

This chapter is developed in the context of over-tourism in the city of Lisbon (Portugal). There is widespread concern about managing this situation, which involves decentralization. The attraction of tourists to other tourist centers far from the city center has been accomplished by creative solutions. This research analyzes the perception of creative entrepreneurs in relation to this capacity of attraction. Moreover, authors compare two tourist centers of the city: coastal and non-coastal. Results from in-depth interviews show advantages and disadvantages of the coastal location.

Nautical Tourism

This chapter provides an overview of the perspectives from previous research on nautical tourism and identifies relevant gaps that should be addressed in future studies. The chapter characterizes policies and practices related to nautical tourism in the European Union and Portugal, taking into account their framework in the context of maritime and coastal tourism, and also in the context of the Blue/Sea Economy. Such analysis seems particularly relevant given this sector's strong dynamism in job creation and wealth generation on any of these scales of analysis.