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Island Studies Journal, 14(2), November 2019, pages 115-136

piloted, making necessary changes before being group administered and completed
anonymously by respondents. A non-probability sampling technique was used, whereby
individuals who presented themselves to the ecotours were asked to participate. Three focus
groups (each with five participants) and a group interview with two ecotourists were also held
with specific participants to obtain participants’ opinions regarding the ecotourism potential of
the islands they visited along with aspects hindering its development. The 17 focus groups/group
interview participants either volunteered or were handpicked by the researcher due to their
roles in the research, either because they participated in multiple of the organised ecotours or
because they revisited the ecodestinations on their own initiative following the ecotour
organised as part of the research. 174 interviews were held with stakeholders across the entire
study area in order to obtain their views on various issues related to ecotourism, including ideal
ecotourism venues, and to learn more about relevant challenges and opportunities. Following
Okech (2011) and Orams (1999), ecotourism stakeholders interviewed included locals, resource
users (including operators, guides, and tourists), government and official agencies, non-
governmental organisations (NGOs), and academics. Whereas distribution of stakeholders
interviewed was not equal, as this depended on their availability to participate and their presence
on particular islands, precautions were taken to ensure that all stakeholders were fairly
represented on each island under study. Two sub-types of strategic informant sampling
technique were used to recruit interviewees: expert sampling and snowball sampling. Interviews
were held face to face and, because many islands are small, close-knit communities, notes were
taken instead of recording to ensure that tangible information could be acquired and that an
adequate pool of stakeholders agreed to participate.
Data obtained through interviews and focus groups was analysed manually through
coding, sorting, and looking for dominant themes. Data from the questionnaire survey was
coded (when necessary) and inserted into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).
The chi-squared test was used to determine whether there exists a significant association
between two categorical variables, one being the ecodestination and the other being an
ecotourism-related aspect. A 0.05 level of significance was used as a threshold value for statistical
significance, where p-values less than 0.05 indicate significant associations between the two
variables. Results are presented in Table 1.

Results

The natural environment and protected areas in the study area
Stakeholders across the study area identified numerous protected areas, including Natura 2000
sites and nature reserves, as ideal ecotourism venues. Stakeholders in the Aegadian Islands
emphasised the presence of the MPA, which is one of the largest MPAs in the Mediterranean
Sea adding, further potential for the island as an ecodestination. In the case of Pantelleria,
stakeholders remarked that although there is no MPA, five sites along the coast are protected
due to the presence of underwater archaeological artefacts and are thus still of interest to
ecotourists. The importance of such sites for attracting ecotourists was confirmed through
surveys. The majority of respondents (60%) said that the presence of protected areas influences
their choice of travel to a destination. The highest rating was obtained from ecotourists visiting
the Maltese archipelago (90%), whereas the lowest rating was obtained for ecotourists visiting

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