A meta-analysis of the direct economic impacts of cruise tourism on port communities (original) (raw)

The economic, social, and environmental impacts of cruise tourism

Measures community local impacts of cruise tourism. Unique methodology using natural experiment and multi-method approach. Measures multidimensional social, cultural, economic, and environmental impacts. Cruise tourism fails to benefit community in tow-taxation, low-regulation environments. Recommend investment in local community assets before initiation of tourism. a b s t r a c t We use a unique multi-method natural experiment to measure economic, social, and environmental impacts of cruise tourism on a local community. Through the measurement of multidimensional indicators before and after the opening of a cruise ship port, and using control groups, we compare community impacts with greater detail and control than previous studies. Although theory and industry multiplier estimates predict gains in employment, income, and related measures, we find little evidence of improvement. The ability of the local population to provide for necessities and obtain sufficient food worsened, corruption increased, and there were substantial negative environmental impacts. One observed benefit to communities was a decrease in crime due to an increase in government expenditure on policing. Our results show that in low taxation and regulation environments with an absence of community development and involvement initiatives, large cruise tourism projects can fail to provide benefits for local populations.

Cruise market: Stakeholders and the role of ports and tourist hinterlands

Maritime Economics & Logistics, 2014

A b s t r a c t The cruise industry has been dynamically advancing over the last decades with an average annual growth rate in the worldwide number of cruise passengers of 7.84 per cent between 1990 and 2013. The Mediterranean Sea is the second cruise destination worldwide. The cruise market is characterized as an oligopoly within the subsector of cruise companies. A similar situation occurs in the Mediterranean homeports, in which a small number of ports account for a high percentage of home in/out passengers. With respect to the port of call segment, there are a large number available in the Mediterranean. The empirical analysis of the determinants of cruise traffic registered by a port is presented in this article, and the Spanish Mediterranean cruise ports are analyzed. To conduct the empirical analysis, principal component methodology and ordinary least-squares regression are used. The explanatory variables are related to the tourist attractiveness, the port infrastructure and port costs. The primary results of the study associate the number of cruise passengers with the attractiveness of the port hinterland, the port infrastructure and the management of port facilities.

Determinants of cruise tourists’ expenditure visiting port cities

Tourism Review, 2019

>Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to detect the determinants of cruise tourists’ expenditure level during their visits to an emergent Mediterranean port city. The article also aims to discuss its findings and contrast them with previous similar studies in other territorial contexts. > Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on surveys conducted on 1,010 cruise tourists that visited the city of Tarragona (Catalonia) during 2017. An ordered logit model is implemented to measure the impact of different variables related to the tourists’ characteristics and their activities developed at the destination. >Findings: Results underline diverse significant influences of multiple factors on the expenditures, such as the travel party, the age of the visitors, the length of stay and the tourists’ activities in the city. Although no incidence has been detected of variables related to the satisfaction with the visit of the cruise passengers in general, a positive association has been identified for those cruise passengers travelling on super-sized ships. >Originality/value: This study tests the effect of different variables that the literature pinpointed as determinants of the cruise tourists’ expenditures as well as other variables that have been underexplored in existing studies. The findings of this article are of special value for public and private organisations to optimally manage and market cruise tourism and boost the local economic impact.

Economic impact of cruise activity: the case of Barcelona

Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing

This article shows the methodology and the main figures of the local and regional economic impact generated by cruise activity. This article is pioneering in combining different issues: estimating the impact of the cruise port activity, presenting these impacts disaggregated at a sectoral level, using a rigorous methodology and carrying out extensive fieldwork. It is demonstrated that all sectors, not just traditional tourism-related sectors, benefit from cruise tourism. In order to test and apply our methodology we focus the analysis in The Port of Barcelona, which has become the leading cruise port in the Mediterranean area.

Determinants of cruise passengers’ expenditures in the port of call

Management : Journal of Contemporary Management Issues, 2016

1.INTRODUCTIONCruise passengers' expenditures, especially their volume and structure, have significant effect on profitability of cruise tourism and related industry sectors (Dwyer and Forsyth, 1998). Positive effects of cruise passengers' expenditures can be seen as direct, indirect or induced consumption effects. Direct passenger consumption effects derive from passengers' expenditures for goods and services consumed in destination of cruise that could be either city or even entire hinterland region or country. Indirect effects appear when local providers of goods and/or services, due to higher consumption, increase their own stock of goods and spread their services, consequently accelerating incomes and employment in economic activities linked to the cruise industry. Due to the higher personal incomes, householders increase their consumption as well, what implies the induced passenger consumption effects (STO, 2007). Due to cruise passenger consumption effects, mentio...

Port’s Role as a Determinant of Cruise Destination Socio-Economic Sustainability

Sustainability, 2019

This article argues that the cruise terminal ports play a crucial role in the economic and socio-cultural sustainability of destinations, bridging the onshore tourism offered among cruise companies, global operators, and local business and infrastructures. They support the promotion of local brands and reduce congestion. The impact of crowds on the identity of coastal cities triggered the attention of academia and media, alerting for their negative impact, specifically from the Mediterranean cruises. In parallel, it raised the research interest on cruise tourism carrying capacity and ports planning the integration of cruise tourists’ flow. However, previous studies focused on the residents’ and passengers’ perception of a specific destination, neglecting the port management role. This study aims to clarify the underneath dynamics that allow sustainable cruise–land visit. Employing a qualitative case study approach, it compares data obtained from secondary sources and port executives...

Economic Impact of Cruise Activity: The Port of Barcelona

2016

Tourism is a highly dynamic sector. An example of this is the boom that cruise tourism has seen in recent years, leading many countries to consider cruises a key product in their development of tourism. The Port of Barcelona has become the leading cruise port in the Mediterranean area (2. 4 million cruise passengers in 2014), highlighting its role as both a port of call and a homeport. Such leadership is explained by the conjunction of several factors: its strategic geographical position, its high quality port and transportation infrastructures, and the attractiveness of the city of Barcelona itself, for both its cultural and artistic heritage and its leisure and shopping opportunities. This article quantifies the local and regional economic impact generated by cruise activity in the Port of Barcelona. Using input-output methodology, its overall impact is computed for the year 2014 as the sum of three partial impacts: direct effect, indirect effect and induced effect. This article i...

The economic revenues and the emergy costs of cruise tourism

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2017

Emergy analysis was applied to three municipalities (Portofino, Santa Margherita Ligure and Rapallo) of the Liguria Region coast, where tourism and cruise tourism are thriving. The results were compared with traditional economic indices. The territorial assessment of the municipalities was analysed by comparing the environmental costs with the economic benefits, focusing on tourism and cruise tourism. Similarities and differences among the case studies emerged. The three economies resulted as being driven by the tertiary sector, but consequences from the different development strategies came to light. Portofino has developed an elite type of tourism with greater attention devoted to the environment. This is mirrored by a sort of safeguarding of tourism and natural resources and by the detriment of the productive sector's success, on the contrary, in Rapallo. Santa Margherita lies in a boundary condition. The cruise tourism sector was analysed in these contexts. The ecological and economic impacts of the cruise sector were revealed to be significant only in Portofino, being less than 1% in Rapallo and Santa Margherita Ligure. The load imposed on the local environment by cruise ship tourism was calculated, and Portofino showed a limited condition, while Santa Margherita Ligure and Rapallo exceeded the local carrying capacity. This is due to the different management approaches pursued: only in Portofino is the territory more able to absorb the impact, although the limit is currently reached. As a consequence it appears to be evident that such phenomena as cruise tourism, albeit economically promising in the short term, should be managed with a long-term perspective, integrating them into the local context and setting up strategies for impact reduction or mitigation.