Features of Nautical Tourism in Portugal—Projected Destination Image with a Sustainability Marketing Approach

Reviewer 1:

Comment

Response

It is a complete manuscript and fits the aims and scope of the journal’s topic.

Therefore, at least a ‘’Minor Revision’’ is required to substantially improve this manuscript. Specifically, the reviewer has the following comments:

Many thanks for your interesting and acknowledging the merit of our paper. 

POINT 1: Abstract: you might try to better clarify the theoretical gap you intend to contribute to. A bit more info could have been added in terms of the used methodology and how do you analyze the data.

Thanks a lot for your support. In the revised version we have reduced and changed the abstract and clarify the methodology.

POINT 2: Keywords: The authours should avoid the syntax keywords, for example: ‘’Portugal’s nautical tourism’’ should be divided to two keywords ‘’Portugal’’, ‘’Nautical tourism’’.

Thanks again for your support, in the revised version we have changed this keyword.

POINT 3: A check to eliminate some typos is needed.

Thank you for your comment, in the revised version we have improved all paper and eliminate some typos.

POINT 4: It is recommended to state the search structure in the last paragraph of the introduction.

In the revised version we introduced the search structure in the paragraph.

POINT 5: It is recommended to mention the name of the authors in the line 173.

Thank you for your comment, in fact the paper had this lapse in several authors, in the revised version this was corrected.

POINT 6: This is a strong paragraph who needs to be justified theoretically ‘’Nautical tourism thus emerges as a tourist segment with proven and specific importance for the economic and social development of tourist destinations as long as it is integrated into the logic of sustainability’’

Thank you for the comment, we fully agree with you, in the revised version we support the statement with bibliographic reference.

POINT 7: The authors have neglected many studies conducted in nautical tourism in English by using the keywords in Portuguese.

We respect your observation and there are possibly studies that are not referenced in this paper. However, the bibliography search was not carried out in Portuguese, we did a search in English in the Elicit platform, the only platform that does semantic literature search. In the revised version of the paper, we have introduced new references however, if you feel that any relevant studies have been overlooked, please let us know.

POINT 8: The layout is missed in Figures 1 and 5

Thank you for your comment. In the revised version, figures 1,3 and 5 have been replaced.

POINT 9: Figure 3 is not clear.

Thank you for your comment. In the revised version, figure 3 has been replaced.

POINT 10: The methodology is not well described.

Once again, thank you for your support, we intend to shorten this department, as it is a content analysis, and our paper is extensive. However, if the esteemed reviewer understands that we should clarify any point of the methodology, we can do it.

POINT 11: The format of references is not adequate with Sustainability requirement.

Finally, we thank you for taking the time to review our paper. In the revised version, all the bibliographical references have been revised according to the journal standard.

Reviewer 2:

Comment

Response

This manuscript uses content analysis method and applies it to the websites of legislative bodies and tourism operators in Portugal through a sustainable marketing theoretical model. This aligns with the scope of the journal. I suggest the authors consider the following concerns:

Many thanks for your interesting and acknowledging the merit of our paper. 

1. Redesign the title. I do not recommend using "-" in the title, and furthermore, "Projected Image" confuses me as it does not seem to be a common phrase.

We agree with you, and we thank you for your attention, in the revised version we have changed the title, and clarified the concept, in fact, in tourism case, the concept to be applied is a "projected destination image". Thus, we redesign the title and we have made the concept clear and consisted throughout the text and added new references references:

Picazo, P., & Moreno-Gil, S. (2019). Analysis of the projected image of tourism destinations on photographs: A literature review to prepare for the future. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 25, 24 - 3.

Qu, Y., Xiang, G., & Dong, Y. (2022). Network mechanism contrast: a new perspective of the ‘projection-perception’ contrast of the destination image. Current Issues in Tourism, 26, 1482 - 1498.

Wacker, A., & Groth, A. (2019). Projected and Perceived Destination Image of Tyrol on Instagram.

2. In the introduction, the first mention of "Projected Image" is in line 121-122, but only one sentence is given without a detailed explanation, which still leaves me unclear about what "Projected Image" is.

Thanks again for your support, in the revised version we have improved this paragraph and we clarify the concept.

3. In line 128-130, to avoid conflict with section headings, I suggest the authors use "(1)" her

Thank you for your comment, in the revised version we have changed two paragraphs (lines 134-143).

4. The current abstract has too much information introducing the background, neglecting the significance of the study. I suggest the authors follow the logic of "background, deficiencies in previous research, novelty of this study, methods and purposes, main findings and conclusions" to reconstruct the abstract.

We agree and thank you for your suggestion, and also at the suggestion of another reviewer, we have changed the abstract.

5. The last two paragraphs of the introduction are suitable to be merged into one paragraph.

Thank you for your comment, in the revised version we have changed two paragraphs (lines 134-143).

6. The author provides a strong literature review in Chapter 2, including sustainable tourism and tourism marketing. However, I suggest adding discussions on tourism economy, etc., and some references are listed at the end of the comments only for the author's reference.

We thank you for your suggestions. In the revised version we have introduced the following references:

Zhou, Q.; Zhu, K.; Kang, L.; Dávid, L.D. Tea Culture Tourism Perception: A Study on the Harmony of Importance and Performance. Sustainability 2023, 15, 2838. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032838 Zhu K, Zhou Q, Cheng Y, Zhang Y, Li T, Yan X, Alimov A, Farmanov E and Dávid LD (2023) Regional sustainability: Pressures and responses of tourism economy and ecological environment in the Yangtze River basin, China. Front. Ecol. Evol. 11:1148868. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2023.114886

7. The title of Figure 1 should be placed below the image. Additionally, the visualization effect of this image is poor, and I suggest changing it to a table. The citation format in the current image does not meet the journal's requirements

Thank you for your insight, in the revised version we have changed the position of the image titles and replaced images 1,3 and 5 to make them more visible.

8. In line 288-289, the author mentions, "thus enabling the researcher to achieve reliability and validity in their research," but there is no data or table to prove the reliability and validity of their study.

Thank you for your careful review, we agree with you, indeed being a qualitative analysis there is no reability and validity of the data. In the revised version, we have changed this paragraph.

9. This manuscript introduces ocean tourism in Portugal, and I suggest the authors use software such as ArcGIS to draw a map to show Portugal's geographic location internationally to researchers around the world. It can be placed in the methodology section (add a subsection to introduce the study area) or in section 4.1, with more text introducing Portugal.

The authors thank you for your suggestion, however, our paper already has two images with coastal map of Portugal (figure 5 and 6), it seems to us that another figure of the same genre would make the paper too heavy.

10. The visualization effect of Figure 4 is poor and must be redrawn. It looks like a sketch.

Finally, we thank you for taking the time to review our paper. Figure 4 figure four was also changed.

Reviewer 3 :

Comment

Response

I am honor to review this intresting issue. However, I have some concerns which may be helpful for you.

Many thanks for your interesting and acknowledging the merit of our paper. 

What is the contribution for the literature or theory?

This paper, in the department conclusions includes the department of theoretical implications: it brings together in a single document an extensive bibliography on nautical tourism and proposes a theoretical model of projected destination image of nautical tourism with approach to sustainable marketing. Given the lack of literature on this topic, we understand that it is a great contribution to academia.

What are the important findings in this study?

Thanks again for your support and for your relevant question, please see point 5.6 of the conclusions department.

The practical implication is poor as a pratcial study.

We respect your point of view, some of the practical implications of the study are reflected in the conclusion as a warning to Portuguese institutions, we assume that it is necessary to read the conclusion in more detail. Finally, we thank you for taking the time to review our paper.

Reviewer 3 :

Comment

Response

Thank you your effort for revising this study. However, I still have a few concerns.

Thank you again for the time spent in reviewing our paper.

This study proposed three objects including to establish the projected image with an approach to sustainable marketing of nautical tourism.

Dear reviewer, the concept established in the first review round anchored on scientific support is: Projected destination image. The authors assume that when referring to 'objects' the esteemed reviewer means 'research objectives'. Thus, we move on to answer your questions.

However, what is the projected image of Portuguese nautical tourism?

The projected destination image of Portuguese nautical tourism with a sustainable marketing approach, according to the research model in figure 1, is the image communicated through the communication channels of the Portuguese nautical tourism actors and is presented in the following points of the paper:

4.2.3.ENPs Projected destination image and sustainable marketing approach

4.3.2.APPRs Marinas and Recreational Ports Projected destination image and sustainable marketing approach

4.4.2.      Portuguese Cruises Ports Projected destination image and sustainable marketing approach

Did you addresse all the question and complete all the objects?

Again, if the esteemed reviewer is referring to all research objectives, yes, the authors understand that all research objectives are met.

The practical implication needs to give detail suggestion for the development for Portuguese nautical tourism rather than for literature.

The practical implications of this study, are in section 5.6 (lines 745-750). This study does not aim to evaluate the development performance of the Portuguese nautical tourism actors, so the authors cannot give practical suggestions for development because our research does not have that scope or data for that.

Reviewer 3 :

Comment

Response

Thank you your effort for revising this study. However, I still have a few concerns.

Thank you again for the time spent in reviewing our paper.

This study proposed three objects including to establish the projected image with an approach to sustainable marketing of nautical tourism.

Dear reviewer, the concept established in the first review round anchored on scientific support is: Projected destination image. The authors assume that when referring to 'objects' the esteemed reviewer means 'research objectives'. Thus, we move on to answer your questions.

However, what is the projected image of Portuguese nautical tourism?

The projected destination image of Portuguese nautical tourism with a sustainable marketing approach, according to the research model in figure 1, is the image communicated through the communication channels of the Portuguese nautical tourism actors and is presented in the following points of the paper:

4.2.3.ENPs Projected destination image and sustainable marketing approach

4.3.2.APPRs Marinas and Recreational Ports Projected destination image and sustainable marketing approach

4.4.2.      Portuguese Cruises Ports Projected destination image and sustainable marketing approach

Did you addresse all the question and complete all the objects?

Again, if the esteemed reviewer is referring to all research objectives, yes, the authors understand that all research objectives are met.

The practical implication needs to give detail suggestion for the development for Portuguese nautical tourism rather than for literature.

Although the study does not aim to evaluate the development performance of the Portuguese nautical tourism actors, the practical implications of the study are described in section 5.6 (lines 745-750). On this assumption, the authors cannot add further practical suggestions for development because the research does not have that scope or data for that.