Abstract
The Blue Economy constitutes a large and fast growing part of the European Economy. In 2017, it accounted for nearly € 74.3 billion in gross operating profit, and an annual turnover of approximately € 658 billion. Among all blue economic sectors, cruise tourism is one of the most important ones, with the Mediterranean region still accounting for the second most popular cruise destination in the world, after the Caribbean. The contribution of the cruise sector to the local economies of most ports of call however, proves to be quite limited, with negative externalities often surpassing derived benefits. Promoting and integrating ‘traditional’ products into cruise supply chains can be a promising solution addressing this situation. It may also provide passengers with an enhanced local-tasting experience that may make their journey even more memorable. Focusing on Greece and its numerous ports integrated into various cruise itineraries, this paper explores cruise network characteristics and identifies local products that can be promoted at different ports of call for boosting customer experience. Through a novel e-marketplace that is being outlined, cruise companies will be able to directly connect with local producers and suppliers and place their orders. Seamless information may also provide benefits with regard to improving transport and logistics processes.
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Acknowledgement
Research for this paper was carried out within the framework of the ‘NAYS – Exploitation of maritime information for the interoperability of cruise supply chains and services’ research project, which is part of the “Interreg V-A Greece-Cyprus 2014–2020 Programme” that is being co-funded by the European Union and National Funds of Greece and Cyprus.
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Sdoukopoulos, E., Perra, VM., Boile, M., Efthymiou, L., Dekoulou, E., Orphanidou, Y. (2021). Connecting Cruise Lines with Local Supply Chains for Enhancing Customer Experience: A Platform Application in Greece. In: Nathanail, E.G., Adamos, G., Karakikes, I. (eds) Advances in Mobility-as-a-Service Systems. CSUM 2020. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1278. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61075-3_104
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61075-3_104
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