Improving revenue performance with third-degree price discrimination in the cruise industry

The leisure cruise industry has enjoyed high levels of growth for nearly five decades due in part to traveler interest in the cruise experience, but also to relatively lower pricing. Although revenue management of cruise fares is now standard practice, there are untapped opportunities to improve yields through data-driven market segmentation and third-degree price discrimination. This paper uses a finite mixture modeling approach to develop, empirically validate, and compare pricing models. By unveiling segments of travelers based on individual attributes, third-degree price discrimination can improve target marketing, the timing and appeal of price discounts, and the matching of variable demand with fixed, though differentiated, room supply. Empirical results from running thousands of simulations with pricing data from one of the world’s largest cruise lines show that the segmentation analysis using third-degree price discrimination can increase fare revenue more than four percent. The modeling approach used in this research extends the emerging literature on revenue management in the cruise industry and offers meaningful managerial implications for advanced pricing tactics and revenue management.     

Evaluating and Categorizing Cruise Lines by ship attributes: A Comparison Between Cruisers and Experts

Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) is an important information source used by consumers to make travel decisions. However, eWOM from travel experts and everyday travelers can be inconsistent, potentially leading to blurred product evaluations and market positioning. This paper examines this issue in the context of the cruise industry with the goal of identifying differences in the evaluation of cruise brands by cruise experts and consumers, as well as the product factors that influence these judgements. The research used a data-driven empirical approach and secondary data from a leading cruise review site consisting of scaled ratings across 9 ship attributes and 24 brands by more than 150,000 cruisers and 174 experts. Data analysis using the TOPSIS method and regression and multigroup models shows that experts and cruisers evaluate cruise brands differently and are influenced by different ship attributes when forming evaluations. For example, value-add attributes (e.g., service, enrichment activities, fitness/recreation) significantly influence overall evaluations for cruisers, while core attributes (e.g., cabin, dining, entertainment) significantly influence overall evaluations for experts. Discussion of the empirical results highlights these differences in cruiser vs. expert perceptions as revealed online, as well as the need to update traditional cruise industry categorization to optimize brand positioning and better align product-marketing strategies for effective target marketing.     

The cruise industry in China: Efforts,progress and challenges

The cruise industry has evolved considerably and in recent years emerged to become one of the most rapidly developing segments of the global tourism industry, with millions of passengers cruising each year. On a global basis, the cruising sector is overwhelmed by North America. During recent years above average growth rates are reported in emerging cruise markets in the Asia Pacific region. As one of the core elements of the Asian cruise market, China is undergoing rapid growth in terms of both cruise ship visits and cruise tourists. However, limited research has been undertaken in regard to growth of cruising industry in China. The purpose of this article is to report current development of the cruise industry in mainland China. First, we briefly provide an overview of the worldwide cruise industry. Then, we summarize the history and the growth of the cruising sector in China; report characteristics of Chinese cruise passengers and compare them with others; highlight information on geographical distribution, berthing capacity and cruise business performance of each cruise port along China's coastlines; and introduce various cruise policy documents issued by Chinese governments. Finally, we discuss some issues, challenges and relevant managerial implications for developing this niche form of tourism in this country.     

邮轮收益管理的舱位分配：基于EMSR-a和EMSR-b的比较分析

邮轮业被称为“漂浮在黄金水道上的黄金产业”,近几年达到8％左右的增长速度,成为现代旅游业中发展最迅速的行业。与航空和酒店业一样,邮轮业具有收益管理的所有行业特征,可以看作是典型的收益管理行业。文章基于北美邮轮市场的实际数据,对邮轮收益管理的需求分布特征和存量分配问题进行了研究。首先,以邮轮公司特定航线的需求数据为基础,将实际数据与多种概论分布进行比较,来挖掘邮轮舱位水平上总需求的分布规律。研究表明,正态分布和伽玛分布能较好地拟合邮轮舱位总需求的分布特征。其次,以正态分布为例,基于EMSR—a和EMSR—b两种舱位分配算法,以某次航行的实际数据为基准需求,对高总需求和低总需求下分别考虑（1）高价格舱位高需求和（2）低价格舱位高需求的4种需求状况进行了模拟,并对两种存量分配方法的分配效果进行了比较。结果表明,两种方法分配效果的优劣取决于实际的需求状况。     

Measuring financial performance through operating business efficiency in the global cruise industry: A fuzzy benchmarking study on the “big three”

Surprisingly, despite extensive research on the impacts of COVID-19 on the hospitality industry, no study develops financial performance benchmarks that reflect these effects. This research seeks to fill this gap by examining the financial performance of companies in the shipping sector, specifically the cruise sub-sector. The "three biggest players" in the sector are the focus of this analysis. Benchmarking is essential for both existing market participants and potential new entrants. Fuzzy methods are used in modeling situations that involve uncertainty. The findings indicate that the three companies' operations must be redesigned in order to produce income and pay off debts. Additionally, Carnival Corporation's resilience is evident in times of crisis, as it demonstrates the best growth prospects, remains dominant in terms of liquidity, presents the highest return on assets, and borrows less than the other two companies.     

Using Twitter Data for Cruise Tourism Marketing and Research

The need to understand how social media affect the hospitality and tourism field has increased. This paper discusses and demonstrates social media analytics using Twitter data referring to cruise travel. This research also includes an in-depth analysis of tweets by three types of user groups: commercial, news/blogs, and private. The results show that not only were words related to travel, destination, industry, and emotion most frequently used in composing tweets, but celebrities, professional bloggers, cruise lines, and travel agencies actually led major subgroups on cruise topics on Twitter. Based on such findings, this study provides feasible marketing strategies.     

饭店收入管理方法最新研究分析

收入管理是饭店业提高收益的重要方法。本文通过回顾国内外饭店收入管理研究状况,着重对饭店收入管理方法的六大研究内容：定价政策、客房存量控制、计算机收入管理系统研究、收入管理决策的最优化、细分市场收入贡献分析和收入管理绩效评估的研究进展、热点与不足及发展趋势进行了评述,并对我国饭店业收入管理应用提出了建议。     

A Preliminary Investigation of NFL Games and Self-Drive Tourism

Abstract

This article addresses the thesis that the presence of an NFL team in a market area creates a unique self-drive (i.e., travel by car) tourism opportunity. Even though the impact of the presence of one or more professional sports teams in a community has been repeatedly studied, the research to date has not looked specifically at the impact on any one industry, or examined the extent to which the self-drive sports fan presents marketing opportunities for the host communities. The purpose of this study is to address these two gaps in the research by investigating the impact of an NFL team's play dates on lodging industry revenue (i.e., occupancy percentage, average daily rate, revenue per available room and total dollar impact) in the market area and to discuss destination marketing strategies to increase lodging revenues by targeting the self-drive NFL fan.     

An overview of cruise tourism research through comparison of cruise studies published in English and Chinese

The concept of cruise tourism should be examined given the rapid growth of this segment of travel worldwide. Rapid increases in cruise tourists and port construction have been observed in China, but systematic research on cruise tourism in China remains unavailable. Hence, this study conducts a thorough review of cruising studies published in top English tourism and hospitality journals and eminent Chinese journals. A content analysis of 62 cruising studies in English and 26 cruising-related articles in Chinese identifies trends in research and methodology and the differences between English and Chinese cruise tourism literature. Significant research topics and methodology trends are discussed and future research directions are also presented.     

Why do you cruise? Exploring the motivations for taking cruise holidays,and the construction of a cruising motivation scale

The purposes of this study were to develop a measurement scale for motivation to cruising and to examine the role of cruising motivation on intention to cruise. The motivation measurement scale was developed by following the procedures recommended by Churchill (1979). The scale was tested and found to be both reliable and valid. The role of cruising motivation on intention to cruise was tested with an online panel survey and it was found that cruising motivation has a positive influence on cruising intention. Based on the study results, some marketing implications were provided to the cruise industry.     

Meeting revenue management challenges: Knowledge,skills and abilities

Hospitality industry increasingly recognizes importance of integrating revenue management into their operations and significance of their staff to do so. Yet revenue managers face major challenges from both internal and external sources. Hence revenue staff dealing with several sophisticated problems should possess various knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) to enable them effectively overcome these obstacles. However which specific capabilities are required to what extent are not clear. Therefore this study aims to match the challenges that are faced by hotel revenue managers with KSAs required in managing inventory and prices. A two step qualitative method is adopted; first 14 revenue managers were interviewed and secondly a focus group with eight participants was conducted in order to identify challenges and competencies required in improving revenue management effectiveness. Thus this study offers a typology of challenges faced by revenue managers and it also identifies KSAs that are required by revenue management staff.     

中国邮轮旅游产业:研究现状与展望

邮轮产业已经成为现代旅游业中发展最为迅猛的行业,近几年达到8％左右的增长速度,被视为“漂浮在黄金水道上的黄金产业”.然而,邮轮业并没有引起学术界的足够关注,研究成果还非常有限.近年来国际邮轮市场的倾斜,使得中国邮轮旅游业发展势头强劲,已成为中国经济增长的新方式和新领域.文章基于国内现有的文献资料,对中国邮轮旅游产业的研究问题和研究成果进行了综述.首先介绍了世界邮轮业的概况和中国邮轮业的发展现状;其次从宏观审视和微观分析的角度讨论了中国学者对邮轮旅游业的研究成果;最后针对中国邮轮产业的问题,从产业集聚视角、利益相关者视角和消费者视角提出了未来值得研究的方向.     

国外探亲访友旅游研究综述

探亲访友旅游是旅游业一个非常重要但常常被忽视的细分市场,但是近年来成为西方学术界一个新的研究焦点.文章在对国外有关探亲访友旅游的研究文献进行评述的基础上,重点分析了探亲访友旅游市场的规模、旅行特征、异质性、对目的地的经济影响以及营销策略,探讨了未来进一步研究的方向,指出了对中国研究的启示.     

Application of revenue management practices to the theme park industry

Revenue management (RM) has been an essential strategy to maximize revenue for many capacity-limited service industries. Considering the common industry characteristics of traditional RM industries, the nature of the theme park industry suggests potential for enhancing revenue by exercising a variety of RM techniques. This study suggests practices for theme park operators for successful RM application. In addition, this study examines how customers perceive RM practice in the theme park industry compared to a traditional RM industry, hotel industry. The findings indicate that customers seem to perceive RM practice in the theme park industry as relatively fair practices as similarly perceived for the hotel industry. The findings are encouraging for the theme park industry because a relatively similar level of its customers’ perceived fairness of the RM practice compared to the hotel industry suggests that adoption and implementation of the RM practice has great potential to become successful as it has been in traditional RM industries, such as hotels.     

Revenue management forecasting: The resiliency of advanced booking methods given dynamic booking windows

Forecasting is the initial component of the hospitality revenue management (RM) cycle. The accuracy of the forecast is critical for RM systems to make appropriate recommendations to optimize revenue. Over recent years the industry has cited shifting booking windows due to a variety of macro (e.g., technology and economy) and micro (e.g., promotion) factors. These shifts pose challenges for RM forecasting algorithms particularly in the domain of pick-up based techniques. In this paper, we review the literature on hotel RM forecasting, particularly with respect to popular techniques used in practice. We then introduce a neural network approach to the advance booking environment to address issues related to booking window shifts. The models are estimated and tested for accuracy, and then re-tested years later after the booking window has shifted. The results are synthesized with discussion as to which models are more suitable for forecasting in dynamic booking windows.     

Cruising in the 21st century: Who works while others play?

The cruise industry is growing in scale and importance annually. Influences such as multiculturalism, globalisation, the increase in numbers of mega-cruise ships and changing passenger demography, suggest that the work environment is not as it might once have been and yet there is very little research to reveal insights into this complex and seemingly unique world. This paper aims to find out what it is like to work and live on a modern cruise ship by examining the views of employees across a number of cruise brands.     

国际邮轮港口的游客服务能力与设施配备研究

邮轮业已经成为国际旅游业中发展速度最快、经济效益最为显著的业务。近年来,随着北美市场的日渐饱和,全球邮轮旅游业重心开始向亚太地区倾斜。我国邮轮产业出现了前所未有的发展势头,已经成为亚太邮轮市场的核心组成部分。国际邮轮产业的实践表明,对于新兴邮轮市场来说,邮轮港口的规划和建设、港区功能配备水平和服务能力的提升是保障邮轮产业持续健康发展的重要前提。文章从邮轮乘客的角度出发,基于国内外邮轮港口的研究成果,并以全球20个邮轮港口的数据为样本,构建了邮轮港口在乘客服务设施配备方面的指标体系,并采用聚类分析法对这些港口的特征进行了综合评价,从而识别出国际著名邮轮港口的功能定位以及在乘客服务能力、港区功能配备等方面的基本特征和成功经验,从而为我国邮轮港口的布局优化提出了针对性的对策和建议。     

Potential Mainland Chinese Cruise Travelers’ Expectations,Motivations, and Intentions

The global cruise industry is the fastest growing sector in the entire leisure market. Due to the limited development of the Chinese cruise sector and government controls on outbound travel, the cruise, especially the outbound cruise, is a new concept in China. Few studies have addressed Chinese consumers’ perceptions of cruises. This study aimed to explore the preferences of potential Chinese cruisers and their expectations, motivations, and intentions in relation to taking an outbound cruise. This study also proposed and tested a conceptual framework: the Expectation, Motivation, and Intention (EMI) Model. Data were collected in Beijing and Shanghai; 242 valid responses were received. The results partially supported the proposed model. The theoretical and practical contributions of the study are discussed.     

On revenue management and the use of occupancy forecasting error measures

This study aims to draw the attention of the revenue management academic community to inherent problems in forecasting accuracy measurement, and to initiate a critical discussion about forecast quality assessment in hotels. An exhaustive, literature-based set of seventeen forecasting accuracy measures was applied to hotel daily occupancy forecasting data of 2043 pairs of computer and human forecast/actuals, across multiple forecasting horizons. The empirical analysis demonstrates endemic inconsistencies across the accuracy measures, and a plethora of theoretical and practical challenges with regard to total hotel, as well as customer segment level forecast accuracy assessment. The analysis illustrates the difficulty of interpreting conflicting results, as well as issues like level of data aggregation and multiple forecasting horizons. The paper concludes by briefly discussing a more comprehensive approach to hotel forecasting quality assessment framework and serves to warn hotel revenue management academics, practitioners and solution providers against the unconsidered use of accuracy measures.     

Selecting a cruise port of call location using the fuzzy-AHP method: A case study in East Asia

Increasing income levels and greater leisure time give people the opportunity to pursue new types of tourism ventures. As one of the fastest growing areas in the leisure travel industry, the cruise industry is increasing rapidly. Due to the benefits that cruise tourism brings to each port of call and the hinterland, it is necessary to be able to analyze the factors that affect cruise lines' port selections. The main objective of this paper is to identify the main factors motivating cruise lines to select specific ports of call and to provide information to port operators that will enable them both to improve their management strategies and to attract more cruise ships, thereby contributing to the revenues of the port and regional economy.