Abstract
In tourism, entrepreneurial internationalisation is considered a measure of the development of the industry and a key driver of innovation, competitiveness and image enhancement. In nautical tourism, research is still scarce in terms of supporting business’ internationalisation. This paper analyses factors constraining the international growth of island-based nautical tourism organisations. For the research, a sample of 60 nautical tourism SMEs´ owners of six different islands in the Macaronesia Region (Canary Islands, Madeira and Cape Verde archipelagos) were interviewed. As a result, we provide up to date information about current conditions and barriers to the internationalisation process within the segment and also identify the profile of the firms with the best international performance. The study is of great usefulness for the industry as it guides on the areas that require special attention to enhance those social, environmental and economic conditions of nautical tourism firms that ensure sustainable international growth. Moreover, it helps policymakers of island destinations seeking specialisation and positioning within the international nautical tourism market to raise the efficiency of current incentive mechanisms for internationalisation, thus contributing to increase tourism competitiveness. Finally, the study highlights the importance of fostering wider cooperation among islands with common interests in nautical specialisation and the challenges that this represents for the tourism management.
Highlights
Studies focused on explaining business internationalisation have contributed significantly to the tourism sector, especially for the formulation of better marketing strategies and positioning of companies in an increasingly competitive environment [1]
Two constructs were obtained on the motivational aspects (MOT 1 and 2), a construct that groups the perception of the entrepreneur on the aspects that differentiate his company from the competition (DIF) and another on the basic conditions for internationalisation (COND)
Among the potential strategies for raising the sustainability of nautical destinations, there is scope to ensure the adequate management of the nautical industry that leads to international growth and success of enterprises in the long term
Summary
Studies focused on explaining business internationalisation have contributed significantly to the tourism sector, especially for the formulation of better marketing strategies and positioning of companies in an increasingly competitive environment [1]. Nautical tourism firms, operate in a high competitive environment, searching for tourists to be attracted by its features. In this scenario, the undertaking of internationalisation strategies may raise firmsopportunities to work towards sustainable development, by focusing on those attributes that are more capable of nourish their image within the global market and are relevant to face competitors out of their natural environment [4]. There is limited knowledge on the likely influence of factors of socio-psychological nature (i.e., motivations and attitudes), that have been widely investigated as determinants of business expansion in other tourism segments [5,6,7,8,9,10]
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