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Karl Agius et al.

aspects of local cultural, social, and economic life. If it were convincingly shown that ecotourism
can improve the situation for local communities, ecotourism’s popularity would probably rise.

Smaller islands as more ideal ecodestinations
A general trend has been observed in each island archipelago, in which the smaller and more
peripheral islands (Levanzo and Marettimo for the Aegadian Islands, Linosa for the Pelagic
Islands, and Comino for the Maltese archipelago) were considered more ideal as ecotourism
venues than was the main (gateway) island of the respective archipelago. In fact, activities
undertaken on the smaller islands within an archipelago were the activities that ecotour
participants reported as enjoying the most. This resonates with the concept of the pleasure
periphery.
The issue of habitat fragmentation or size of ecotourism venues was never raised for the
smaller islands. Furthermore, stakeholders did not feel the need to identify specific sites as
ecotourism venues but instead regarded the entire islands as ideal ecotourism venues. This is
because, on such islands, development and the residential areas tend to be located in one specific
site, with the rest of the terrain mainly being given over to wild or protected areas, in part thanks
to strict regulations. The identification of smaller islands such as Comino to serve as
ecodestinations in their entirety has also been reported (Muscat, 2007). This contrasts with other
studies held in the Maltese archipelago referred to above, which revolved around specific sites
as ecotourism venues.
Absence or lower level of habitat fragmentation is linked with partial absence or limited
dimension of mass tourism. Smaller urban footprint or anthropogenic impact due to lower
population density and double insularity has also contributed to more pristine environments.
This confirms the arguments that insularity and remoteness can also serve as an attraction for
ecotourists because they ensure a pristine environment (Garrod & Wilson, 2004; Weaver, 2008;
Zeppel, 2006).

Quality of ecotourism venue impacts ecotourist satisfaction
Overall, the level of satisfaction of the ecotours was deemed high, the expectations arrived at
before the ecotour were fulfilled, and many participants expressed a high degree of willingness
to recommend the ecodestinations. The fact that some ecotourists participated in two or three
of the organised ecotours and that others claimed to have revisited the ecodestinations or
recommended that others visit them confirms visitor satisfaction. In fact, satisfaction in
ecotourism has been associated with repurchase of the ecotourism product (Higham & Lück,
2007), recommendations (Murphy et al, 2000), and repeat visitors (Bardolet & Sheldon, 2008).
The high level of satisfaction registered among respondents accords with the general trends of
high satisfaction among ecotourists reported in the literature (Fletcher & Fletcher, 2003). Studies
have attributed ecotourist satisfaction to the quality of venues and attractions (Fletcher &
Fletcher, 2003). Results obtained from different data sources all confirmed overall satisfaction,
and quantitative data was found to be statistically significant. All these factors confirm that,
generally speaking, these islands and sites have the potential to serve as ecodestinations and
ecotourism venues as well as to host ecotourists.
In the case of archipelagos, results show that larger islands such as Favignana and
Lampedusa and Malta in particular have less ecotourism potential and are unlikely to fulfil

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