The essence and types of sea tourism

Sea tourism is a mobile component of recreation related to overcoming the space for recreation, entertainment, treatment, or for any other purpose not related to making a profit. The essence of the recreational function of tourism is physiological (restoration of physical strength, recovery, relaxation) and psychological relaxation (change of place, environment, the acquisition of new experiences).

The cultural function is manifested in helping to increase the level of education and the general culture through familiarization with everyday life, cultural traditions, lifestyle of other nations. On the other hand, marine tourism, accelerating cultural exchange, accelerates innovative processes in culture.

Thus, the improvement of the population, increasing its working capacity and level of culture through the implementation of cultural, educational and recreational activities enhances the social significance of sea tourism.

Of great importance is the ecological function of marine tourism. On the one hand, sea tourism is a consumer of certain natural and recreational goods and is interested in their conservation. On the other hand, an increase in demand leads to an increase in anthropogenic pressure on territorial recreational systems, especially traditional or fashionable. Therefore, environmental protection should be an integral part of the development of marine tourism, one of the key problems of its sustainable development.

The economic function of sea tourism is quite significant. The needs of a traveling person from a position of mass character formed the industry of the public services sector. A further increase in requests stimulated the development of the industry, and the animated effect and the complex nature of consumption / services contributed to its transformation into an industry – an intersectoral complex aimed at meeting the tourist needs of the population. The economic component of sea tourism is manifested not only in the commercial focus, quince strengthening its social and environmental role.

The next task of researchers is the classification of types of marine tourism. There are traditional basic classification features such as the subject of activity, region of rest, purpose, age, etc. [5-7]. The author [8] proposed additional criteria for the classification of marine tourism – “recreational focus” and “used elements of the resource potential of the marine tourism sector”. It should be noted that a strict classification of tourism does not exist. Therefore, without denying the existing classification features, we will present the main classification features of sea tourism, emphasizing its specificity.

Depending on the resources and infrastructure used, cruises, beach tourism, yachting, as well as extreme, sports and port tourism are considered as independent types of sea tourism.

Let us clarify that by sea tourism is meant a system of multifunctional actions and relations associated with the use of port infrastructure by tourists (boat trips, catamarans, rent, repair of various types of ships and equipment, etc.). So, for example, the infrastructure of cruise shipping in the largest plan is divided into cruise ships and ports, respectively equipped and of interest from the point of view of attractiveness for potential tourists. Cruise ships differ in the number of passengers, in terms of service on board. Ports are divided into those that are able to accept the largest cruise ships and those that do not specialize in servicing large ships. The first group of ports considers the cruise business as an important type of tourism activity, properly building its policy and management (in Europe – Naples, Civitavecia, Barcelona). Such a classification is necessary to build investor relations. Attractiveness for an investor is primarily determined by the initial costs, the rate of return on invested capital and the payback period.

Sea tourism as a sub-industry related to the service sector is intertwined with industry, creating interdependence and mutual influence. The effect obtained at the same time can have a strong influence on the growth of the economy in the region and country. Describing sea tourism as a promising, new, rapidly developing sub-industry, we note the following:

– The maritime tourism market is relatively new. Parts of Europe are not developed from the point of view of maritime tourism, therefore they are potentially new markets;
– territories and markets, little known to tourists, having conditions for commercial development, but due to various circumstances that have not received it, are potentially new markets requiring development (for example, military zones in Italy, Croatia, Sevastopol in Ukraine, which have sea potential, but for many years calls were not allowed);