Typology and Models of Cruise Travellers’ Consumption in Coastal Tourist Destinations
Purpose: The aim of this study is to identify the typology of cruise travellers taking into account the consumer behaviour in the coastal destinations related to various functions performed on the cruise tourism market, and also to present models of consumption and mathematical formulas which allow to estimate the total travellers’ spending, The research questions are as follows: 1) What are the types of consumers on the cruising market? 2) What are the types of cruise tourist destinations (CTD)? 3) What functions are performed by cruise travellers in various CTD? 4) How can we calculate the cruise travellers’ total expenditures? Design/Methodology/Approach: The research methods applied are literature review, exploration method of data, desk research and comparative analysis. Findings: The study showed a gap in consumer consumption on cruising market regarding cruise travellers’ expenditures incurred before and after a cruise voyage. This makes it difficult to estimate the total cruise travellers’ expenditures connected with an idea of “cruise voyage”. This also obviously has an impact on the difficulties in estimating revenues from cruise travels not only for travellers’ places of residence but also for the reception areas. Furthermore, there is still insufficient data on cruise travellers’ expenditures on board cruise ships which are not included in a tourist package. Analyses indicate that cruise travellers bear much more higher costs related to their cruise voyage, than they expected or were unaware of it. Practical Implications: The results of the foregoing may constitute an interesting source of information for tour-operators, cruise companies and local authorities in coastal tourist destinations Originality/Value: The review of the most important publications on consumption related to services and consumption modelling, including publications on the tourist market, has showed that there is a gap in literature when it comes to theoretical models of consumption and typology of tourists on the cruise tourism market. The knowledge of consumption models is important in assessment of economic effects generated from tourist service in coastal regions.