Perceptions of cruise travel during the COVID-19 pandemic: Market recovery strategies for cruise businesses in North America

The study aims to identify consumer perceptions of the cruise industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic and seeks to provide market recovery strategies for cruise businesses. The relationship between perceptions among cruise experience and COVID-19 financial status groups were explored. The results of analyses of data from 759 respondents indicated that travel constraints negatively influence behavioral intention through negativity bias. Further, perceived crisis management positively affects behavioral intention through attitude-trust. New consumers’ behavioral intention is significantly affected by the negativity bias, and the perceived crisis management manipulates the trust of financial-affected consumers.     

Expanding our understanding of cruise visitors' expenditure at destinations: The role of spatial patterns,onshore visit choice and cruise category

Cruise tourism is an important and growing source of visitors to destinations. To expand our knowledge of this phenomenon, this study incorporates three new drivers into the analysis of the expenditure patterns of cruise passengers at destinations, namely, spatial intra-destination behavior (single node, multiple node, or hinterland), onshore visit choice (independent or guided), and cruise category (standard, premium, luxury, or exclusive). The study uses quantile regression to unearth the intricacies of the proposed relationships and a dataset that combines GPS tracking technologies and traditional surveys. Results suggest that the mobility pattern, onshore visit choice, and time spent at a destination of cruise visitors have significant effects on their expenditures. However, these effects vary along with the level of expenditure, whereas cruise category does not exert a clear effect on expenditure. The implications for destination management organizations are also discussed.     

Working onboard - Job perception, organizational commitment and job satisfaction in the cruise sector

This paper focuses on the perceived work environment and its influence on organizational commitment and job satisfaction in the cruise sector. Two focus group interviews were conducted in addition to one survey among the crew in an upmarket cruise line. The focus groups elicited responses concerning crew experiences of working onboard. Based on this information, a questionnaire was constructed to measure job perceptions among crew members. The results indicate that all of the experience domains were related to job commitment and job satisfaction, but that the strongest effects were found to be perceived “Respect”, the “Social atmosphere”, and “Food and living quarters”.     

国际邮轮旅游市场特征及中国展望

全球邮轮业经历了30多年的强劲增长,年均增长率在8%左右。在邮轮旅游的巨大经济效益和国内旅游产业转型升级的促动下,近年来国内各港口城市都在大力推进邮轮产业的发展。通过分析相关的国际邮轮旅游市场数据资料,总结出国际邮轮旅游消费市场的基本特征,并以此作为判断依据,对中国国内邮轮旅游市场需求进行展望与预测,以期为中国邮轮旅游经济的发展提供参考。     

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.     

虚拟企业的战略结构研究

本文旨在对虚拟企业战略管理的基础理论问题——虚拟企业的战略结构进行初步的探讨。论文在总结基于实体企业的传统战略管理理论范式的基础上提出了虚拟企业战略管理的理论范式,分析了虚拟企业战略管理实践与传统战略结构理论的矛盾。在以上理论准备的基础上,提出了虚拟企业战略结构的"导弹模型",阐述了该模型的结构、意义和核心思想,并以典型的虚拟企业——美国耐克(NIKE)公司为例进行了理论分析。该模型的提出为进一步深入研究虚拟企业战略管理问题打下了理论基础,提供了基本思路和框架。     

Impacts of cruise industry corporate social responsibility reputation on customers’ loyalty: Mediating role of trust and identification

Despite the high relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in service businesses, investigations of its influence on the cruise sector are scarce. Relying on institutional theory, this study proposes a model with cruise customers’ trust and identification as the key factors between CSR reputation and customers’ loyalty. Using data from 292 cruise customers, results support the impact of customers’ perceived CSR reputation of cruise companies on two relational constructs and loyal behavior. Only customers’ identification mediates the relationships between reputation and brand loyalty. Thus, findings suggest that cruise customers likely form high-level loyal behavior when they perceive companies’ CSR activities and their similarities with such companies. From these significant findings, the authors draw several theoretical and practical implications, including the importance of enhancing the company’s focus on its CSR reputations. This study also provides directions to promote identity strengths for enhancing the impact of CSR reputation on company performance.     

Schemes for enhancing Taiwanese cruise PAK relationships using the hybrid MADM model

Because of the emerging cruise travel market, major Taiwanese travel agencies have promptly formed PAK to distribute cruise sales nationwide. However, few studies have discussed this issue or proposed empirical schemes to help enhance relations inter-alliances. The purpose of this study is to address this problem within the theoretical framework of trust-commitment theory. The method of hybrid MADM (multiple attribute decision-making) is used to manage multi-variant problem and produce optimal enhancing models. The result shows that Trust and Commitment mediate the relation, as found in previous studies, but unveils that Antecedents can also directly influence Relational outcomes, such as from Opportunistic behavior to Propensity to leave. Notably, Trust and Commitment play the leading roles to reach the aspired relation. The findings are integrated into a useful scheme index for decision-makers to enforce the on-going relational exchange to reach the common goal of PAK.     

Tipping policy effects on customer satisfaction: An informative failure to replicate

Analysis of online reviews indicates that Royal Caribbean’s abandonment of tipping on March 1, 2013 had no reliable effect on its customers’ ratings of either the overall cruise experience or the cruise service/staff. This finding stands in opposition to previous studies which reported that customer satisfaction and service ratings fell after organizations abandoned voluntary tipping policies in contexts where tipping is normative. Since tipping is no longer common in the cruise industry, the failure to replicate suggests that earlier effects were probably caused by people’s subjective preference for the tipping policies they were used to in those contexts rather than by tipping’s actual effects on service delivery.     

都市休闲旅游产品探索——以烟台邮轮旅游为例

休闲旅游最讲究的是轻松愉悦,而休闲尤其是邮轮旅游的便捷性、超娱乐、慢节奏的特征正契合旅游者轻松愉悦的追求,因此邮轮旅游可以纳入休闲旅游产品之中,为烟台市民及至烟台的游客提供一种新的休闲旅游方式。烟台市邮轮旅游发展休闲旅游产品具备了供需方面的发展条件,同时具有一定的产业基础条件,为邮轮旅游的良性发展提供了基础。但目前发展邮轮旅游产业存在的竞争、基础设施、部门协调、人才等问题,需要采取发展休闲旅游产品的一系列相应对策。