Pescatourism, a sustainable tourist experience

Pescatourism is a relatively new development in sustainable tourism, becoming established in the early 1990s in Italy. It consists of a day trip on a fishing boat with local fishermen who take tourists on board. Tourists take part in fishing operations by casting and pulling in the nets and performing other tasks, such as eating freshly caught fish cooked on board and visiting fishing villages. In the last two decades, Pescatourism has involved an increasing numbers of tourists, attracting the attention of other European countries, and succeeded in creating potential from coastal areas, embracing the fishing industry in the strict sense, and more generally the landscape, culture and local economic activities. Such potential is able to attract tourists and generate income through a process of more sustainable exploitation of local resources. This study represents the first scientific contribution that analyzes the satisfaction of pescatourists. A sample of 105 pescatourists was surveyed with a structured questionnaire in Sardinia, an Italian island in the central Mediterranean. Based on attribute based customer satisfaction measurement technique, results suggest that pescatourists are highly satisfied about this touristic experience. The greatest part of the interviewees (82%) assigned the maximum score to the global satisfaction. Demonstration of fishing (activities carried out linked to fishing); land excursion (activities carried out not linked to fishing); traditional recipes used to prepare the fish for lunch (food experience) are the most significant attributes in shaping overall satisfaction level. Intrinsic service attributes, such as vessel characteristics, result not statistically significant.