Nautical Tourism and the Media

Nautical tourism as a tourism industry with a strong maritime element combines two major industries, such as cruise industry and marina industry that we need to extend to vessel chartering as a smaller industry. There is no direct competition between these industries. They are complementary and loosely bound. Each of the above-mentioned industries develops its own products and services and places them onto the global market of supply and demand. In so doing, the communication takes place with the help of the communication media; that is by means of public relations departments established within each industry, operating as organizational units within the business entities of nautical tourism. Public relations departments play a vital role in the implementation of the strategy of social responsibility as an instrument of management and a key promoter in achieving strategic goals of an organization. In implementing communication strategies, as well as social responsibility strategies aimed at the public, public relations departments use the media as one of the tools of public relations that contribute to the success and competitiveness of business entities on domestic and international market. Depending on the level of development of each of the three above-stated industries of nautical tourism, as well as on the competition within the industries, the communication with the market of supply and demand varies significantly. In order to achieve success, the public relations experts, with the help and support of the company’s top management, carry out regular and detailed research that helps businesses enrich their offer with the aim of meeting the standards and requirements of demand. What is the research about? What is the aim of it? In what way the social responsibility strategies are developed in line with the general principles of sustainable development? Which industries use and develop effective communication with the global market of demand, and in what way? These are the questions to which we will provide the answer in this scientific paper. The subject matter of this paper is the role and utilization of the media and public relations departments in the communication between business organizations in nautical tourism and the public. In wider terms, the communication on the market of demand takes place by means of marketing mix that has been developing almost on a daily basis. The purpose of the paper is to identify the differences in the utilization of the media among several industries of nautical tourism and to explain the reasons why the difference occurs. The paper aims to highlight the role of the media in contributing to the success of the management of business entities in nautical tourism. The communication technology at the global market of supply and demand in nautical tourism is not distributed uniformly. Therefore, our hypothesis is presented in order to identify the differences among the industries based on different levels of competition found within each of the three above-stated industries. The purpose of the study is to test the hypothesis on the utilization level of the communication media.