Abstract

Traditional ports have modified their patterns of behaviour, and currently they are working on strengthening their marketing strategies aiming to address a global market, where increasing competition, demand for new infrastructures as well as easiness to access and to operate are the new norms. This article sets out the news ways and processes to deal with the tasks related to port corporate governance as regards to the promotion of their marketing. The article analyses the quantitative structures in the specific case of the Spanish Ports, from which two strategic lines are obtained: marketing focused on increasing cargo volumes, and marketing focused on increasing connectivity. Finally, the article also quantifies the results of the efforts by the 28 Port Authorities on the marketing field, and presents their positioning using an analysis of the principal components of these indices.