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Overcrowding Peer-reviewed journal

Crowding and the wish to return to Mediterranean hotspots

In the online sample, mostly not cruise passengers, those who perceive more crowding and less authenticity report lower satisfaction and less willingness to return.

Psychological Determinants of Tourist Satisfaction and Destination Loyalty: The Influence of Perceived Overcrowding and Overtourism — Papadopoulou, N.M.; Ribeiro, M.A.; Prayag, G. · Journal of Travel Research, vol. 62(3), pp. 644-662 (SAGE)

WhereMediterranean
Year2023
SourceJournal of Travel Research, vol. 62(3), pp. 644-662 (SAGE)
Strength of methodMedium

Note on the source. This source should be read with caution: it may be funded by the sector, a draft or a thesis, or rely on self-reported or modelled data. See the limitations below.

The question

How do the perception that a destination has been 'adapted' to mass tourism, approach or avoidance reactions, crowding tolerance and perceived crowding influence satisfaction and the intention to return to or recommend Mediterranean 'hotspot' destinations, and does awareness of overtourism moderate these effects?

The method

Online questionnaire (Qualtrics) with recruitment via Amazon Mechanical Turk, 6-23 May 2020, aimed at people who had visited one of ten Mediterranean destinations in the previous three years; 582 valid responses after cleaning. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation model (Mplus), moderation tests with PROCESS Model 1.

What the study finds

8.2%of respondents who arrived by cruiseThe study is not focused on cruise passengers: only 8.2% of respondents had reached the destination on a cruise, while 51.9% had organised the trip themselves and 38.1% had joined a group tour.
coeff. −0.64link between 'tourist-adapted' feel and satisfactionThe impression that the place has been adapted to tourists (little authenticity, absent locals, spaces designed for groups) shows the strongest negative link with satisfaction (standardised coefficient -0.64).
β = −0.16effect of perceived crowding on satisfactionThe more crowded respondents judge the destination, the lower their satisfaction (β = -0.16) and their intention to return and recommend it (β = -0.18), while the tendency to advise against it rises (β = 0.12).
β = 0.79effect of satisfaction on destination loyaltySatisfaction is the factor most closely tied to loyalty: its effect on the intention to return and recommend the destination is very marked (β = 0.79).
  • Awareness of overtourism moderates the link between crowding and satisfaction (interaction β = 0.15): according to the authors, the effect of crowding is strongest among the most aware and not significant at average awareness levels.
  • The destinations most often named as the last visited are Venice (31.6% of respondents) and Barcelona (20.5%), followed by Marseille, Naples and Santorini.
Why it matters for ports and cities

In the most visited Mediterranean cities, including major cruise ports such as Venice and Barcelona, surveyed visitors link crowding and loss of authenticity to lower satisfaction and less desire to return. The authors suggest monitoring crowded sites with digital technologies and informing tourists about crowding in good time. The sample, however, includes few cruise passengers.

Limitations

Non-probability online sample (MTurk, mostly men and 25-34-year-olds), collected during the COVID-19 lockdown about visits up to three years earlier; cross-sectional design; cruise passengers are a small minority and are not analysed separately.

Full reference and source

Papadopoulou, N.M., Ribeiro, M.A., Prayag, G. (2023). Psychological Determinants of Tourist Satisfaction and Destination Loyalty: The Influence of Perceived Overcrowding and Overtourism. Journal of Travel Research, vol. 62(3), pp. 644-662 (SAGE).

Read the original study ↗

Summary written by the ODYBOAT Observatory in our own words. Tables and figures belong to the authors.