Cruise Motivations

The cruise line industry has been a major vacation destination for several years. However, in the more recent years the industry has seen a decline in passengers. The author wrote about a study about what passenger’s motivations are to take a cruise. He utilized 6 cruise lines over a 6 week time frame between the summer months of May to July in 2008. The criteria used consisted of: cruise itineraries, and the cruise experience. He states there are 3 aspects of tourist motivation, and utilized the 7 point Likert scale to measure and gather information. The scale measures vacation attributes, information sources, and information from the Leisure Motivation Scale. For the methodology a quantitative approach was used. A generic questionnaire was created to gather research information. The participants were 54% female and 46% male. They had various ethnicities, education levels, socio- economic backgrounds, and marital statuses. For the data collection a stratified technique was used. The sample group had 50 individuals and the overall sample continued 306 individuals. The analysis of the data was coded and input into worksheets. The final outcome of the study found that there are many reasons that motivate people to take cruises and most notable was what the spouse or the travel companion of the traveler wanted. The want of just taking a cruise was significant for first time cruisers. Websites. Comfort and accommodations were also noteworthy attributes.

I can certainly understand why people love to take cruises. They are exciting, relaxing, and the experience is overwhelming. I have had the pleasure of taking two cruises and both were equally great in terms of destination and accommodations. The first was just as the study suggested...

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...ponents. To run smoothly the parts have to basically work together like a well-oiled machine. There are several factors that can drastically change the way the market goes. The state of the world basically drives the tourism industry, as does the pretty bells and whistles. What the media has to say can drive the market as well, and when disaster strikes the numbers drop. I know that the future is unpredictable, but additional safety training and procedures are essential to all types of businesses even tourism. The images that had the captain leaving his ship and the passengers and crew to fend for themselves was devastating, and the most recent image of the cruise ship with bags of human waste…painted a disgusting and lasting negative image in the minds of views. I could imagine many ticket holders calling to cancel cruises at the sight of that, thanks to the media.