Academic Journal
Do whale-watching experiences and tourist expectations align? A comparison of three Macaronesian destinations.
| Τίτλος: | Do whale-watching experiences and tourist expectations align? A comparison of three Macaronesian destinations. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Hurtado-Pampín C; Ecología de las comunidades marinas y conservación (ECOMAR), Departamento de Biología Animal, Edafología y Geología, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, España.; Instituto de Investigación Social y Turismo (ISTUR), Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, España., de la Cruz-Modino R; Instituto de Investigación Social y Turismo (ISTUR), Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, España., Domínguez-González D; Instituto de Investigación Social y Turismo (ISTUR), Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, España., Herrera-Cáceres Á; Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, España., Vicente-Alonso S; Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, España., Arranz P; Biodiversidad, Ecología Marina y Conservación (BIOECOMAC), Departamento de Biología Animal, Edafología y Geología, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, España. |
| Πηγή: | PloS one [PLoS One] 2026 Mar 03; Vol. 21 (3), pp. e0342997. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Mar 03 (Print Publication: 2026). |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article; Comparative Study |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Public Library of Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101285081 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1932-6203 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19326203 NLM ISO Abbreviation: PLoS One Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: San Francisco, CA : Public Library of Science |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Tourism* , Whales* , Recreation*, Animals ; Spain ; Portugal ; Humans ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Azores |
| Περίληψη: | This study examines the alignment between whale-watching experiences and tourist expectations in three different destinations. Whale-watching is a global tourist activity, with locations such as the Canary Islands (Spain) and the Azores (Portugal) in Macaronesia rapidly becoming prime spots for these marine activities. Those locations attract a significant number of tourists with varying recreational interests and diverse perceptions of each destination and its natural resources, including marine wildlife megafauna species that can be seen. While often marketed as sustainable tourism, the ecological impacts of whale-watching are a matter of concern. Evolving whale-watching practices may reinforce or diminish the effectiveness of conservation and environmental education efforts. In this regard, exploring whale watchers' expectatives, preferences, previous experiences, level of satisfaction, and environmental information may help to assess better practices and sustainable tourism initiatives. This study employed a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating a series of questionnaires that explored whale watchers' expectations and overall satisfaction before and after sea trips in the Tenerife and El Hierro Islands (Canary Islands, Spain), as well as in São Miguel (Azores, Portugal). The findings highlight differences across three study cases: El Hierro attracted more experienced and oriented tourists, while Tenerife and São Miguel received more generalist visitors. Satisfaction was closely linked to the number of cetacean sightings. Many participants who did not mention specific species expressed open preferences such as wanting to "see everything" or "whatever is possible", reflecting limited prior knowledge. The study highlights the importance of tailoring whale-watching strategies to tourist profiles by enhancing communication, adjusting group sizes and vessel types, and reinforcing conservation messaging to ensure both positive experiences and long-term ecological sustainability. (Copyright: © 2026 Hurtado-Pampín et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.) |
| Competing Interests: | The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. |
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| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260303 Date Completed: 20260710 Latest Revision: 20260813 |
| Update Code: | 20260813 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC12956078 |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0342997 |
| PMID: | 41774730 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
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| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0342997 |