Websites as a tool for communicating with tourists – the example of yacht marinas on the Polish Baltic coast

Abstract

Motives: Businesses rely on the Internet to facilitate marketing communication, attract customers, and build customer loyalty. The Internet can be used not only as an additional channel for distributing information about the company, but also as a means of interactive communication for commercial purposes or promotional activities. This is of great importance for service providers, including tourism sector businesses such as marinas.Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the content of websites owned by Baltic yacht marinas in the Polish voivodeships of West Pomerania and Pomerania. Marina websites were analysed based on their usefulness for potential tourists in 2018, 2020, and 2022, using the adopted criteria, and data for each year were compared to examine changes over time. The applied research methods included theoretical and analytical observations, website analysis, and a point ranking scale. A comparative analysis of the obtained results was performed. This is the first study to examine the extent to which marinas rely on social media for marketing and advertising purposes.Results: The results of the conducted analyses provided answers to the formulated research questions. Few marinas use websites as a tool for communicating with potential customers, but their owners are beginning to recognize the potential of the Internet in this regard.