Search

Eco-labels such as Blue Flags can be effective for enhancing both sustainability and tourism. Given the ongoing political debate on the effectiveness of Blue Flags for promoting tourism, we analyze the impact of the number of Blue Flag beaches on tourist arrivals (international and domestic, respectively) for Spanish coastal provinces. Panel data techniques are used to evaluate Blue Flags econometrically for the longest and most recent time period in the literature (2000–2019). Findings suggest that Blue Flags are effective at promoting international tourism but not domestic tourism. Different patterns for international and domestic tourists mean that differentiated policies should be applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Economía Aplicada is the property of Revista de Economia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The past decade’s trend toward super-sized cruise ships has enriched the experience for cruise passengers. Unlike a small number of mega cruises that have chosen to press on in a luxury–classic style, the vast majority are rapidly converging on a Las Vegas resorts-style tourism model. Aside from the traditional factor that Las Vegas and cruises have in common, that is, the casino, this article analyzes other aspects of this increasingly mimetic relationship, with the following standing out: the greater importance given to entertainment; the greater variety and quality of Food and Beverage (F&B) and shopping choices; an informal dress code; a complex, dynamic management as to both prices and extracting monopoly rents from passengers; the expansion of both models outside their original locations, Las Vegas and the Caribbean; and, lastly, in response to previous trends, an oligopoly market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • There is a negative relationship between passenger satisfaction and vessels' gigantism and, to a lesser extent, modernity. • Cruise passengers differentiate between general cruise companies, and Premium lines. • A better crew-passenger ratio, more space per passenger and more construction cost don't affect the passenger satisfaction. • The cruises have evolved with success from seniors, retirees and newlyweds to the family market. • It's difficult to define the satisfaction of such a complex tourism product as a cruise. Abstract In a market characterized by gigantism and the trend toward the Las Vegas resort concept, our paper seeks to analyze passenger satisfaction when faced with the dilemma of a wider array of facilities and services, but at the cost of a cruise "en masse". A sample of 105 thousand passenger ratings of 134 vessels and 9 different cruise brands reveals a clear negative relationship between passenger satisfaction and vessels' gigantism and, to a lesser extent, modern design. Satisfaction also seems to significantly depend on three groups of factors: the cruise line experience; the vessel's intrinsic characteristics, although its construction cost has no effect, and passengers' own profiles: their ratings clearly depend on their motivations for choosing a particular cruise but are not influenced by expert opinion of the vessel. So, predicting customer satisfaction for such a complex tourism product is a challenge for future planning in this sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that charter flights have become a hybrid model between the low-cost carriers and the network carriers, the charter passenger's profile presents important differences from those of the passengers of the other two types of airline. This article analyses those differences. The authors use a multinomial logit model and a broad database of almost 40,000 passengers. Their results break with certain stereotypical assumptions, such as that charter passengers are low-income, that they use the services of travel agencies to a greater degree, or that they show a clear bias for travel for vacation purposes. Their profile is of infrequent flyers with a longer waiting time before boarding, although this does not mean that they make more purchases at the airport. Furthermore, they look to travel to more remote destinations, with no intermediate stopovers, which are not usually served by the low-cost carriers, as a result of which they have a greater presence at hub airports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Eating/drinking is the most frequent nonaeronautical passenger activity at airports. [•] Waiting time is the primary reason for eating/drinking at airports. [•] Group travel increases the likelihood of eat/drinking at airports. [•] Passengers of strict low-cost model airlines are less likely to consume. [•] The presence of a McDonalds at an airport does not result in greater consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]