Critically analyse and evaluate current developments in consumer behaviour in relation to one transport sector.

Current Issues in Tourism

Introduction

The cruise industry is the fastest developing sector of the leisure travel industry. More people are taking cruises than ever before and there is a huge potential for growth in this dynamic industry.

(Dingle 1999)

Dingle explains that the cruise industry has grown very rapidly within the years and as more people are starting to take cruises, this will help the industry to grow and to cater to their consumers.

The cruise industry is a small but a steadily growing sector of the general tourist industry. Traditionally cruising was seen to be for the older tourist whose children have all grown up.

Dingle estimated that the UK cruise market would grow about 22% between 2004 and 2006, with 1.25 million British people taking a cruise by then.
By 2010, he believes there will be 1.8 million UK cruisers, representing annual growth of about 10%.

(ttglive.com [online] 2005)

Target Market

Cruisers are derived from those generic to holidaymakers. It has been discovered that a cruiser profile is made up of PRESSED - which includes

Party / Partygoer - These people tend to go on cruises for the on-board activities and the nightlife. They tend to be happiest on a ship which has the latest entertainment features, a lively casino and plenty of organised activities.
Relax / Relaxer - The relaxer is on the cruise to relax and unwind, although in the night they may decide to take in a degree of action, in the day they are there to loosen up, find themselves and devour the ship’s library.
Enthuse / Enthusiast - These people are addicted to cruising, what goes on in the ship is not very important but as long as they are on a cruise they are happy.
Stroll / Stroller - The stroller is someone who is on the cruise for status. They are there to look and feel glamorous, to get away from everyday life and to enjoy their time there.
Seek / Seeker - Seekers are individuals who like to get to know their surroundings which they are visiting. There are not many “seeker” cruisers as the ship is always on the move, the seekers do not get to feel and understand where they are.
Explore / Explorer - The places which few people have seen before are what the explorers are on the cruise ships for. They tend to cruise to go to places which cannot be reached unless on ships and hardly any people have seen before.
Dip / Dipper - The dipper is your average everyday type of person, with 7.6 million people falling into this category in 1996. These people are the “Been there, done that, brought the T-shirt” type of people, who go with the flow and follow the trends.

(Cartwright and Baird 1999, pp.94-99)

According to Stanley Plog’s (1977) psychographic traits, cruiser’s falls into the Midcentric category, as they seek familiar surroundings, they belong in the higher income group and are, from time to time adventurous.

With going on a cruise the Midcentric passenger is able to have familiar surrounding which include a nice homely room, nice food, and everyday activities which take place at home. Going on a good cruise is very expensive for the Midcentric traveller but they do not really worry about money, and with being adventurous they are able to do activities which they wouldn’t normally do, such as kayaking, rock climbing and even diving on-board the cruise.

(Cooper et al. 1998, p172)

In the 1980’s and 1990’s the cruise industry saw the emergence of a new market, which was younger people with considerable income but no families. The term DINKY’s was given to these couples which meant “Double Income No Kids Yet” These couples were excellent to target as they had plenty of disposable income and they do not have any children to worry about, being able to go on holiday, when they like and where they like, spending their quality time together and not having to worry about the price.

In 1990’s 15% of the passengers who cruised with P&O and Princess Cruises were from the UK and researches showed that there is still an active UK market.

In 1998, the UK cruise market was expanding dramatically. Companies which had operated in the traditional holiday market were adding cruising to their portfolio and greatly increased their supply of cruise holidays for the UK market.

Although cruising is loved by many travellers, there is still a staggering 98% of the population who have not taken a cruise, reasons identified by Dickinson and Vladimir (1997) cited in Cartwright and Baird (1999) revealed five main reasons why people do not cruise which consist it being too expensive, the exclusivity, family commitments, claustrophobia and sea sickness.

Disabled consumers

The disabled consumer group have become more interested in the cruising industry, many cruise liners did not offer ships which catered to disabled people. Now with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, where all places who offer service have to make “reasonable adjustments” the cruise liners had no choice but to build disability-friendly rooms for their travelling disabled passengers. Not saying that they did not have these rooms before, but some cruise liners did not offer this service for the disabled consumer group, and it was against the law.

There should be no problems for disabled people finding a cruise liner suitable for them as all cruise liners now offer fully disabled facilities within the ships to cater to the disabled consumer group.

Family Cruising

In the 1990’s a major development which was companies targeting families with children was put in place, by providing facilities not only for the adults but also for the children to enjoy, now in 2005, almost every cruise line offers family cruises.

If a cruise liner does not offer a family cruise they are missing out on making lots of money. Although there are still some cruises which specifically do not allow children, reason being because these cruises are for the older / retired people who do not wish for screaming, noisy, crying children and babies when they are trying to relax.

Being a kid is all about having fun. Coincidentally, so is vacation. But kids and parents rarely agree on what is fun.

To parents, fancy dinners, late night shows and reading by the pool are fun. Kids have more fun playing games, doing scavenger hunts, and going down waterslides. The good news is that all of these activities occur on a cruise, making a cruise the vacation of choice for today's families.

Under the supervision of the youth staff, kids can play video games, eat pizza and play in a ball pit, while parents relax and have a fabulous five course meal.

It is a parent's and kid's dream come true!

(familycruise.com [online] 2005)

The quote above was taken from www.familycruise.com an internet site which specifically caters for family cruises. Helping families to plan holidays which will keep both parents and kid’s happy on their holiday. Parents love to go on cruises so they have to be able to find a ship which caters for the family, letting the children have a good time on the cruise and also for the parents to relax and not have to worry about looking after their kids and think about what they are doing and are able to do on-board.

The cruise industry has continued to grow rapidly since the introduction of family cruises. This might be due to parents now being able to have their dream holiday, a cruise, and not have to worry about their children as they can go too and have fully trained sitters to look after their kids and keep them occupied all day long.

Price

Cheap prices are what the lower-end consumers are looking for. A good price with an average cruise holiday, they cannot expect more than that as they are not paying a high price for a luxury ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Price

Cheap prices are what the lower-end consumers are looking for. A good price with an average cruise holiday, they cannot expect more than that as they are not paying a high price for a luxury cruising holiday.

Although the cruise industry is very expensive, there are still many consumers who like to go on cruises. This could be due to status, as only the wealthier people can afford to go on these high-class cruises. In 1999, it was possible to obtain a seven day cruise from the UK for £399 per person, which then was cheap compared to the top end cruises which were around £2000 per person. Now in 2005, cruises prices start from £599+ per person. This is rather expensive as the average family spends around that price for a holiday a year, not per person.
Cheaper cruising prices should be being introduced and this would be an excellent idea as many lower-end consumers want to experience a good cruise but unfortunately do not have the funds. If cruise liners offered cheaper cruises with good experiences not only the wealthy passengers can go but so can the lower-end customers.

Incentives

Cruises in America often have many deals which include, prices starting from $399, book before Jan and receive an extra night’s stay, children under 16 cruise for free and many more. This is a good way to make more sales and allow people to pick their company to another one. As there are many incentives available which is what the consumers are looking for as they are paying a high price for their cruising holidays.

“Receive our special Early-Booking discount and free hotel stay”.

(cruise.gr [online] 2005)

The quote above is very popular within the cruise industry, this is the type of incentive the consumer wants to see to help motivate them to purchasing the holiday. Consumers today are very greedy and like value for money, if they are buying on the internet they will always look for sites which offer them incentives towards their holidays, or when buying in travel agent they will try to get some freebies towards their holidays.

“One in three passenger’s book a year ahead - tempted by early-booking discounts”.

(Carnival UK Cruise Report 2005)

This is a good example found from www.ttglive.com where the UK cruise report 2005 found out that passengers like to book early due to discounts. As mentioned before cruising is not a cheap holiday, and that is why cruises like to offer their customers early-booking discounts to ensure they will return to their company again the following year due to the prices being lowered every year.

Offering early-booking discounts is both good for the company and consumers and they are able to again go on a cruise holiday, but this time for cheaper. Word of mouth to friends and family if the deal was good, giving the company more business due to one happy customer.

Accessibility of booking

The internet has boomed within the last few years, with everything and anything being able to be accessed via the internet.

www.easycruise.com is one of the newest websites around which offer internet cruise bookings. They offer cruises to the Caribbean and French and Italian Riviera Cruises, both of which are very cheap for 1st time cruisers to purchase.

People are able to pick their chosen holiday destinations, activities and even hotels if not booking a cruising holiday over the internet in the comfort of their own home, without having to go through the hassle of a travel agent and also getting a good discount on their holidays. Consumers want ease with booking their holidays, they do not want to have to fuss about unnecessary things which is why many people now tend too book over the internet, to save the troubles with the travel agents. Even television teletext and telephone have introduced booking holidays just because consumers have picked not to go into travel agents to book their holidays.

“If you have difficulty booking via web, please call us at 206-623-1445/800-642-7816”.

(argosycruises.com [online] 2005)

Booking via the Internet and telephone is both a choice for the consumer on many websites, for example the quote above was taken from www.argosycruises.com which is a prime example of offering both internet and telephone booking for their customers.

www.teletextholidays.com is the website to look at for holidays of all kinds to book, if the consumer missed the holiday on their television teletext they are able to look at it again through this website and book via internet or telephone.

A good idea as this is looking at the consumer’s needs and wants and catering to them, as they are the ones who bring in the money and business. If the consumers want ease of booking, then the cruise operators should take this into account and find ways of implementing this.

Status

Consumers are concerned with status when it comes to cruise holidays, as high-quality cruises are expensive, with prices starting from £1000+. People’s egos tend to get the best of them when they talk to friends and families comparing holidays, experiences and prices.

“…it is always smart to keep in mind that advice from family or friends is a huge influencer in buying decisions”.

(Strategic Action Resource 2003)

Strategic Action Resource quoted in 2003 that it is important for the operators to keep in mind that the consumer’s decisions also rely on families and friends when buying holidays.

The influence of a family on buying tourism based products is very important as the family often acts as the purchasing unit, which may be supplying the needs of perhaps two generations. Each member of the family fulfils a special role, and this may influence the next generation to buy the same tourism based products, and carrying on to the next generations. If a generation enjoyed going on cruises they would introduced this to the next generation this could also happen for the future generations, making more people interested in the industry.

Status has always been a problem in all industries. If a celebrity or someone they know is seen or will be doing something then everyone thinks it is fashionable and will tend to copy them. Some people copy these people regardless of whether they have the money, as long as it is seen as trendy and lots of people are doing it, then more and more people will start to follow and do the same thing. This is known as “Keeping up with the Joneses” where the Joneses are the famous rich people who do everything first, and everyone will copy them, just so they do not feel left out and are in with fashion.

Commitment

Most consumers tend to be loyal and committed to their chosen companies. If a cruise liner gives the customer an unforgettable experience with good value for money, the consumer is bound to go back to that company.

Also, if point schemes and loyalty points are used by the company, many consumers tend to go back and use that company as they know that when they do, points will become incentives for their next holiday with the same company.

Solo Market

The cruise industry has recently started to target the solo market, targeting single people who would like to go on cruises to meet new people and maybe even a partner.

Cruises are an excellent choice for the single person who is looking to get away and have an enjoyable vacation. A cruise ship will offer you an enclosed society, which offers a sense of community and friendliness that you would not find in land bases holidays. Many single people are attracted to cruising in today’s world, in fact it is estimated to be about 20% of passengers are single.

(cruise-information-center.com [online] 2005)

Some of the reasons why singles are interested in the cruise market is due to knowing they are in a safe and secure environment, with the same types of people being there are people like themselves who are on these cruises to meet new people. There is a good chance of these passengers finding romance whilst on their chosen cruise. There is always someone to talk to, whether it is a single person or even a couple, social skills will be enhanced due to always socialising with different types of people on-board. Special single activities like parties and sports events are available for the passengers to participate in, to meet and greet new friends. Shore excursions provide the passengers the opportunity of going ashore in good company and having a great time with new met friends.

Consumers Needs and Wants

The modern passenger is very complex and meticulous, they are always looking for things that are best suited to them. Many variables have been identified which includes:

Safety - Consumers want to go on holiday where the safety is put in first place.
Flexibility - The better the flexibility of the industry the better, as things always happen and change last minute, so easy changes should be readily available without hassle.
Price / Cost - As mentioned previously, value for money holidays are the best.
Service Quality - Everyone wants a service with a smile, it makes them happy.
Convenience - Not too far to get to, not too many complications.
Availability - Getting the holiday when wanted is what the consumers want. The operators suiting the holidays to them, not the consumers suiting to the operators.
Incentives - Everyone likes incentives, whether large or small consumers will be happy and
Enjoyment of trip - All consumers want is a good holiday, with no problems or unhappy experiences.

(Cooper et al 1998, p.278)

The consumers needs and wants are pretty simple, to sum up they just want their holidays to be value for money, a good experience with good service when booking / purchasing holiday and when on the holiday itself.

Today’s cruise passenger demands flexibility, choice and value for time - an important factor to consider with only four weeks holiday allowance a year. This has made the cruise lines react by building superb new ships offering the quality and range of activities, dining and entertainment you would expect from a top class hotel or from a holiday in any cosmopolitan city in the world.

(Dingle 2005)

Consumer Demands

Consumers whilst on cruises are looking for more diverse products on-board to enjoy. Due to this demand many cruise liners have taken this into account and have come up with special activities for their passengers to enjoy.

Some activities offered by Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 cruise include:

Illuminations - “Take a virtual ride into outer space, view the stars and other visual spectacles or take a course on celestial navigation in Illuminations, Queen Mary 2's full-scale planetarium”.

(cunard.co.uk [online] 2005)

Cunard’s QM2 is the first cruise ship to feature an onboard planetarium. Located in the ship’s Illuminations theatre, the planetarium has reclining seats which allow guests to lie back and take a tour of the galaxy.

They also offer a grand cinema, a 500-seat lecture hall and also a broadcasting studio. A grand History and Art expedition with over 300 original art work worth over $5 million. Internet access is also offered on the cruise for people to surf the internet, check emails and send interactive postcards to their family and friends. Interactive TV for all passengers so they are able to choose from thousands of movies to watch from the comfort of their own rooms. A stunning 3-story Britannia Restaurant is in the Queen Mary 2 whose grand sweeping staircase creates a dramatic showcase for those wishing to make the ultimate entrance.

The Canyon Ranch Spa Club is the most luxurious ocean vessel ever built. This highly praised health resort has elevated the spa experience to an entirely new plane with life-changing programmes from stress-relief classes to workshops on diet, healthy aging and disease prevention. 51 Canyon Ranch health and wellness experts work in Queen Mary 2's 20,000 square foot facility which includes 24 treatment rooms, a thalassotherapy pool with deluge waterfall, a whirlpool, thermal suite with both herbal and Finnish saunas, reflexology basins and an aromatic steam room.

(cunard.co.uk [online] 2005)

As you can see from the passage above that the Queen Mary 2 has diversified their products to suit a range of consumers, which will bring them more passengers and money. Looking at what the consumers want when they go on cruises and bringing it into the cruise is excellent for both the cruise liners and the passengers themselves.

“Ice rinks are available on Royal Caribbean International’s Voyager-class ships. Whether you want to hire skates and take to the ice yourself by day, or go for the more sedate option of watching Olympic skaters perform by night, there is little doubt that having an ice rink onboard a cruise ship is something rather different to the norm”.

(ttglive.co.uk [online] 2005)

Ice skating is another activity which was brought into cruises when aiming at the family market as children love to ice skate, so what better idea than to bring it into the cruise.

Rock climbing is available on the Royal Caribbean, it has now become their signature activity, with the wall being in the vessel of the cruise ship and the wall being higher than the statue of liberty, fun for all the passengers.

Princess Cruises has introduced an open-air cinema under the stars, where passengers are able to watch a film next to the poolside in the evenings on a massive outdoor screen.

Golf lessons have been introduced in many cruises as more people are starting to pick up golf, so the cruises brought golfing into their ships so people are able to have another activity to choose from.

Fred Olsen’s Flagship Golf Package combines onboard tuition by a PGA professional with rounds at onshore courses in the Mediterranean, Canary Islands, Caribbean and Baltic.

(fredolsencruises.co.uk [online] 2005)

The demand for weddings on-board has grown rapidly within the past few years. Everyone is starting to want to get married on a cruise due to it being so unique, but it is rather costly. There are many different destination islands for people to get married on, which include Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, St. Thomas and San Juan. All of which are a beautiful picturesque location, a perfect place for the perfect couple.

Princess Cruises can perform marriage ceremonies onboard its vessels.

There are wedding chapels on many of the line’s ships, with ceremonies conducted by the ship’s captain. Renewal of vows ceremonies is also available.

(princesscruises.co.uk [online] 2005)

In recent years there has been an increase of renewal of wedding vows ceremonies aboard cruise ships. This is a wonderful background to repeat their love, commitment and trust to each other. The renewal of wedding vows can take place almost anywhere on a ship and you can select the most romantic time for this to take place. Princess Cruises offer wedding chapels aboard six of their ships where the passengers can arrange to have a renewal of wedding vows on-board.

Gambling is nothing new for cruise ships, with most having substantial casinos onboard. But up market Crystal Cruises is the only line to offer Caesar’s palace at Sea.

The casinos are operated by the famous Vegas hotel Caesar’s Palace, and feature blackjack tables, mini-baccarat, craps, roulette and more than 85 slot machines.

(ttglive.co.uk [online] 2005)

Casinos are everywhere on cruise ships, a cruise ship without a casino is not a cruise. Crystal Cruises’ Las-Vegas style casino offers a 4,000 plus square foot facility, which includes Blackjack tables, mini-baccarat, craps, roulette and up to 115 slot machines. The casino is only suitable for over 21 years old, but casinos are mainly for the older person’s who have extra cash who might want to make a little bit more disposable income.

Competition

Competition is very important in the cruise industry, there are so many cruise liners around the world which include: P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Ocean Village, Disney Cruise Line, Sun Cruise, Golden Star Cruise, Island Cruise, Star cruisers and many more.

P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises and Ocean Village cruise are the main competitors around UK, so they have to think of their own special products to make them stand out from each other to attract more customers and business.

P&O have recently agreed to a £3 billion Arab handover, on 29th November 2005, they ended their 168 years of independence and sold it to the Arabs for £3.3 billion. Since then, P&O have recently introduced their “Around the world in… 14 days” cruise. This includes going to countries like San Francisco, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Dubai and Cape Town.

They have also published their 2006 cruise programme featuring calls to lesser-known locations in Libya, Iceland and Tunisia, new concepts in dining and, for the first time, weddings at sea.

Princess Cruises have announced they have added “10 day Scandinavia / Russia” cruise and “7-day Scandinavia” cruises onto their 2006 itinerary, adding more variety to their cruises. Also naming their new 2007 cruise ship the “Emerald Princess” along side their “Caribbean Princess” and upcoming “Crown Princess”.

Ocean Village has been shaking up the traditional cruise market since launching its first ship less than two years ago. With the arrival of our second ship, the brand will hit critical mass as the informal cruise holiday of choice. As the newest and freshest take on holidays at sea, Ocean Village has already taken over 150,000 bookings, nearly 60% of them from first time cruisers. With the expansion of our fleet, we are reinforcing Ocean Village's position as the brand with the newest, largest and best-equipped ships in its class.

(cruise-information-center.com [online] 2005)

Ocean Village acquired to purchasing a second ship which is now up and running since November 2005. Good business for them as they are now able to run two different cruises at the same time, gaining more money and passengers on their cruisers.

Factors

There are many environmental issues when cruising which passengers do not ever think about.

Not so long ago the traditional method for removing rubbish from ships was to dump it over board. Such practices are now, quite rightly, outlawed and cruise ship companies have been environmentally aware. There are large fines applied to any shipping company found guilty of pollution.

(Cartwright and Baird 1999, p.163)

A modern cruise ship is made to retain as much rubbish as possible for safe disposal at designated sites. However, it is not just pollution that is a concern. Too many visitors will also have an effect on flora and fauna, especially when some cruises are to sites of natural interest. There is also starting to become visual pollution, around areas of the Caribbean island, St. Lucia and also to Charlotte Amarlie in St. Thomas.

Political factors can affect the operations of a cruise companies but usually not as an outright ban as in the case of the US and Cuba but more of a reluctance of cruisers to travel to areas which they feel politically and physically insecure.

(Cartwright and Baird 1999, p.164)

There are many desirable cruise destinations but consumers will not think to visit these areas due to them being somewhat politically unstable and in terms of security. Tourism is a two-way process, the arrival of a cruise ship full of wealthy passengers may well have considerable impact on the less wealthy population.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the cruise industry is a fast growing dynamic business. With passengers all over the world cruising, it is important for the cruise liners to adapt their products to their consumer’s needs and wants. As mentioned above, consumer’s like to have ease of booking their cruise trips, a variety of different ways to book with value for money, good incentives and also a good cruising experience.

The target market for the cruisers has diversified over the last 10 years, from aiming at the older generations to aiming at younger couples without kids and also to families. The cruise industry has also changed and adapted their products to disabled consumers, offering them a nice, relaxing cruise with plenty of activities for both disabled passengers and full-bodied passengers.

Since the demand for family cruises increased there are now many cruises which offer this cruise. With parents being able to relax like on a normal holiday and their children being able to run-free, play all day and night, with experienced trained staff looking after them.

As the solo market for holidays boomed, the cruise industry took this opportunity too add this onto their itinerary, targeting single passengers looking for fun, friends and even romance.

The consumer’s demands were the main problem within the cruise industry, not having enough activities and on-board entertainment for their passengers. With long, hard thought and research this was easily overcome by many different cruise liners offering different special activities for their passengers which is mentioned above includes, open-air cinema, on-board golfing lessons, ice rinks and also planetariums. This way helping to attract different types of passengers onto these cruises, having a good time whether alone, as a couple or even families.

Competition in every industry is always a major factor, with the cruise industry being worldwide with many identical cruise liners offering the same destination cruises, the cruise liners have to make themselves unique and standout against the other lines.

Environmental and political issues have also been a main factor for every industry including air and rail. This is something which cannot be overcome easily but helping to reduce these factors can help consumers to choose to cruise and also choose to cruise with which company.

As a whole the cruise industry over the years has grown to be very diverse, customers now actually want to go on cruising holidays instead of having land-based holidays due to the on-board activities / entertainment available to them. As Dingle 1999, quoted above in the introduction section, the cruise industry will continue to grow and will grow at a very fast pace, soon offering unseen and unheard of products for all their consumers whether young, old, single or married, everyone will soon be cruising.

Bibliography

ANON.,2003. Psychology of travel - Consumer Behavior. [online]. Strategic Travel Action Research. Avaliable: http://www.ntaonline.com/staticfiles/psychtravel_consumer.pdf [accessed 10 December 2005]

ARGOCRUISES., 2005. Theme Cruises. [online] Avaliable: http://www.argosycruises.com/themecruises/default.cfm [accessed 10 December 2005]

CARTWRIGHT, R., and BAIRD, C., 1999. The Development and Growth of the Cruise Industry. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann

COOPER, C., et al., 1998. Tourism Principles and Practice. 2nd ed. Essex: Prentice Hall

CRUISE., 2005. Family cruises in Greece. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.cruise.gr/f_cruise3gs.html [accessed 10 December 2005]

CRUISE INFORMATION.,2005. Casual cruising company Ocean Village has announced it will more than double in size... [online]. Avaliable: http://www.cruise-information-center.com/ocean_village_to_receive_second_ship.htm [accessed 13 December 2005]

CRUISE INFORMATION., 2005. Cruising for singles [online] Avaliable: http://www.cruise-information-center.com/singles.htm [accessed 12 December 2005]

CRUISE INFORMATION., 2005. Eat, drink, and be married. P&O cruises unveils new 2006 ‘personalised’ programme. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.cruise-information-center.com/p&o_cruises_eat_drink_and_be_married.htm [accessed 13 December 2005]

CRUISE INFORMATION., 2005. It’s cool to cruise. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.cruise-information-center.com/po_cruises__its_cool_to_cruise.htm [accessed 12 December 2005]

CRUISE INFORMATION., 2005. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises’ online check-in now fleetwide. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.cruise-information-center.com/royal_caribbean_online_check_in.htm [accessed 13 December 2005]

CRUISE INFORMATION., 2005. Princess to Name Next "Gem" Emerald Princess [online] Avaliable: http://www.cruise-information-center.com/princess_cruises_to_name_next_gem_emerald_princess.htm [accessed 13 December 2005]

CRYSTAL CRUISES., 2005. Caesar’s Palace on Sea [online] Avaliable: http://www.crystalcruises.com/onboard.aspx?ID=1 [accessed 12 December 2005]

CUNARD., 2005. Cruises - illuminations. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.cunard.co.uk/QM2/default.asp?Active=about&sub=exclusives [accessed 12 December 2005]

EASY CRUISE., 2005. Easy cruise. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.easycruise.com [accessed 10 December 2005]

EBERSOLD, W., 2004. Cruise Industry in figures. [online]. Business Briefing: Global Cruise. Avaliable: http://www.touchbriefings.com/pdf/858/ACF7B5.pdf [accessed 10 December 2005]

FAMILY CRUISE., 2005. Cruising Kids. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.familycruises.com/family/1.cfm?rep_code=corp# [accessed 10 December 2005]

TEYE, V., and LECLERC, D., 1998. Product and service delivery satisfaction among North America cruise passengers. [online]. Great Britain: Pergamon. Available: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6V9R-3TGNYF1-X-1&_cdi=5905&_user=4297755&_orig=search&_coverDate=04%2F30%2F1998&_qd=1&_sk=999809997&view=c&wchp=dGLbVzb-zSkzS&md5=4ec835c5a661ba421dc537570cdd2645&ie=/sdarticle.pdf [accessed 10 December 2005]

TTG LIVE., 2005. Cruises. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.ttglive.com/Features/24092004/cruise01.shtml [accessed 12 December 2005]

TTG LIVE., 2005. Ships are attracting families. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.ttglive.com/NTTG_fullstory.asp?ArticleID=4599 [accessed 12 December 2005]

References

CRUISE INFORMATION., 2005. Around the world in…14 days. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.cruise-information-center.com/po_cruises_around_the_world_in_14_days.htm [accessed 13 December 2005]

CRUISE INFORMATION., 2005., Contents. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.cruise-information-center.com/table_of_contents.htm [accessed 12 December 2005]

CRUISE INFORMATION., 2005. Daily Cruise News. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.cruise-information-center.com/daily_Cruise_News.htm [accessed 12 December 2005]

CRUISE INFORMATION., 2005. Renewal of wedding vows. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.cruise-information-center.com/renewal_of_wedding_vows.htm [accessed 12 December 2005]

IRN RESEARCH., 2005. Current developments. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.irn-research.com/downloads/IRNSampleTravelMarket.pdf [accessed 10 December 2005]

OCEAN VILLAGE., 2005. Ocean Village. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.oceanvillageholidays.co.uk [accessed 13 December 2005]

PEISLEY, T., 1992. The World Cruise Ship Industry in the 1990s. London: The Economist Intelligence Unit and Business International

POCRUISES., 2005. P&O Cruises. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.pocruises.com [accessed 10 December 2005]

PRINCESS CRUISES., 2005. Open-air cinema. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.princesscruises.co.uk [accessed 12 December 2005]

PRINCESS CRUISES., 2005. Princess Cruises. [online]. Avaliable: http://www.princess.com [accessed 10 December 2005]

TELETEXT HOLIDAYS., 2005. Teletext cruises. [online]. Avaliable:http://www.teletextholidays.co.uk/WebCruise/Homepage/HomeCruise.aspx?area=cruise [accessed 10 December 2005]

BA (Hons) Tourism Management Wing Man Lai