The quality of web communication by tourist ports in the Mediterranean Sea: A comparative analysis

The economic relevance of nautical tourism is constantly growing, with the Mediterranean Sea being one of its core markets. In the nautical tourism system, ports play a key role, that has significantly evolved in the last decades. Multi-purpose ports, where the spaces devoted to boaters were mixed with the commercial and industrial activities, have been replaced by specialized ports and marinas, fully dedicated to hosting pleasure boaters. Ports' communication needs and objectives have consequently increased, as tourist ports today are service companies devoted to fulfilling increasing and complex demand by nautical tourists. It is consequently worth investigating the quality of communication by tourist ports, especially with respect to web communication. In our paper, we present an analysis of the quality of 129 tourist ports websites, from 10 countries on the Mediterranean Sea. Quantity and value of the information provided are assessed with the application of the 2QCV3Q model, a multi-purpose qualitative evaluation tool that considers several aspects of the website. The results of our analysis not only return a ranking of tourist ports websites, but also allow for several comparative exercises, both within the sample and with selected benchmark ports. The implications of our research are significant as it returns a detailed picture of the level and the determinants of the quality of web communication by tourist ports in the Mediterranean Sea; this information can be of interest not only for scholars but also for practitioners, especially destination managers and tourist port managers.