Islands’ Tourism Seasonality: A Data Analysis of Mediterranean Islands’ Tourism Comparing Seasonality Indicators (2008–2018)

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear authors,

This paper is very comprehensive. I need to address some comments.

1. You need to clarify, in the methodology section, why you selected these islands.

2. In the islands of the Ionian, Southern and Northern Aegean please clarify the names of the islands under these categories.

Thank you!

Author Response

Dear Reviewer, 

We appreciate your revision. We have modified and integrated the text as you suggested. We are sending in attach the file with your requests and relative answers. 

Best regards, and thanks for your time,

The Authors 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Thus is a worthwhile paper which makes a good case for the need to study tourism seasonality in islands. The list of Mediterranean islands chosen for study does not include Corsica which seems strange and its absence might be explained. The manipulation of the tourism data is valid except for the MUS measure. Its definition as '100 on seasonality average peak per year' is not clear. Nor is it clear why this measures over-utilisation. Why 'over', should this not be explained? Further, MUS is defined instead as ‘maximum usage constrained by seasonality’ on line 452. This confusion needs attention.

The body of the paper, the analysis of the 5 tables of data is too descriptive with the words tending just to repeat the information given in figures in the tables. There is  more synthesis in the discussion and conclusion although even here there is some tendency to deal with each set of islands in turn again.

The English is fine except for the problems with apostrophes throughout the paper with the different placing for singular and plural possessives being mixed up.

499: 2008-2018 not 1018.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer, =

We appreciate your revision. We have modified and integrated the text as you suggested. We are sending the file with your requests and relative answers. 

Best regards, and thanks for your time,

The Authors 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

The detailed review of the manuscript can be found in the attachment.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for your thoughtful and encouraging review of our paper. We greatly appreciate your positive feedback on the relevance of our research topic and the structure of the paper. Your recognition of the methodological framework we developed to address a critical gap in the existing literature is genuinely appreciated.

The Authors

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

The study delves into tourism seasonality within Mediterranean islands from 2008 to 2018, with a primary focus on the challenges posed by over-tourism in high seasons and under-tourism in low seasons. The objective is to offer evidence-based recommendations for sustainable tourism policies, utilizing statistical indicators like seasonality rate, relative intensity, seasonality average peak, and over-utilization to scrutinize the distribution of tourist overnights across various islands.

However, several aspects need refinement before publication. The abstract and introduction could benefit from increased conciseness, mitigating redundancy regarding the importance of addressing seasonality. The extensive literature review lacks clarity in connecting the reviewed literature with the study's specific goals and methodologies. To enrich the content, additional references are suggested, including Fernandes et al.'s (2020) exploration of tourism concentration in Northern Portugal and Krabokoukis and Polyzos's (2023) empirical insights into tourism seasonality in the Mediterranean. Moreover, Santos and Moreira's (2022) article on reinforcing tourism carrying capacity assessments and Sharma's (2023) work on holistic approaches to carrying capacity assessments provide valuable perspectives on sustainable tourism. The article acknowledges regional specificity by focusing on the South Aegean Region in Greece, as demonstrated by Vandarakis et al.'s (2023) assessment of carrying capacity in this region.

·         Fernandes, P. O., Nunes, A. M., Veloso, C. M., Santos, E., Ferreira, F. A., & Fonseca, M. J. S. (2020). Outdoor solutions for the seasonal concentration of tourism demand in Northern Portugal: An integrated approach based on the Gini Index. In Handbook of research on the impacts, challenges, and policy responses to overtourism (pp. 364-379). IGI Global.

·         Krabokoukis, T., & Polyzos, S. (2023). Analyzing the Tourism Seasonality for the Mediterranean Countries. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 1-24.

·         Santos, E., & Moreira, J. (2022). Price Elasticity of Overnight Stays: Testing Veblen’s Conjecture Across Portuguese Regions. In Advances in Tourism, Technology and Systems: Selected Papers from ICOTTS 2021, Volume 1 (pp. 25-34). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.

·         Sharma, R. (2023). Reinforcing Tourism Carrying Capacity Assessments: Holistic Approach and Future Research Directions. In Inclusive Community Development Through Tourism and Hospitality Practices (pp. 185-211). IGI Global.

·         Vandarakis, D., Malliouri, D., Petrakis, S., Kapsimalis, V., Moraitis, V., Hatiris, G. A., & Panagiotopoulos, I. (2023). Carrying Capacity and Assessment of the Tourism Sector in the South Aegean Region, Greece. Water, 15(14), 2616.

While synthetic indices offer a useful overview, a clearer explanation of their selection and relevance to research questions is warranted. The presentation of monthly overnight distribution in Table 3 could be enhanced with visual aids for improved interpretation. Finally, incorporating study limitations would augment the summary's completeness, particularly regarding the in-depth analysis of policy recommendations.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on our scientific paper. We appreciate your thoughtful comments and constructive criticism.

We recognize your feedback regarding the need for refinement in several aspects before publication.

We have attached a file with all the answers. 

Best regards,

The Authors

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 5 Report

See attached 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for your detailed feedback on our article. We appreciate your thorough review and the insights you provided.

Your feedback highlights essential areas for improvement, and we will consider your comments when reviewing the document. We have offered more apparent justifications for our methodological choices in response to the observations. We offer a more critical data analysis by better articulating how the selected indicators contribute to sustainability compared to alternative measures.

We attached the file with all the answers, hoping we interpreted your advice.

Best regards,

The Authors 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

I am pleased to observe that the issues identified in my response to the first submission have been dealt with and I am now able to advise the editor to publish the article. There are just three very minor matters to correct:

Line 47. 2008-2018 is not now the 'last' 11 years.

Line 198 Crete not Creta

Line 199 specify that Malta itself is an island with its two off-islands.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for checking the second part of the article and the accurate revision. We appreciate your dedication to the article, and now, thanks to your advice and suggestions, we believe it is much better than the initial version. 

Thanks for contributing to the research, 

The Authors

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

The revised manuscript demonstrates significant improvement.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

We appreciate your dedication to the article. We believe it is now more comprehensive and hope to contribute to research on the island's field.

Thanks for your time, best regards,

The Authors

Reviewer 5 Report

By reconceptualizing the purpose of the paper and folllowing through with that purpose, the paper is much improved. 

Changes: the abstract argues that you will show how the islands can have harmanious and sustainable engagement with tourism.....no, you document seasonality, something that might be useful for econcomic and community planning. Important, but not some magic solution to tourism's challenges. 

Map: This is a start, but the map is insufficent for a professional article. It has no legend, the pointers on the map appear to do nothing other than block the view. The island groups are not depicted, and there is no source (careful, maps are copyrighted). Get someone with some cartography experience (even an undergraduate student) and produce a basic, but professional map. 

Author Response

Dear Reviewer, Thank you for your comment and for checking the second article. We appreciate your dedication and your time to improve the article's impact. Best regards,

The Authors 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf