Cruise Passengers’ Expenditures in Relation to Satisfaction Levels in a Mediterranean Port of Call

Abstract

Tourist satisfaction has been recognized as a key element for tourism growth and promotion in all sectors of the tourism industry. Although several studies have been published analysing the importance of cruise tourism to local and national economies, only few of them address the relation between cruise tourist satisfaction and tourism expenditures, especially in new ports of call. This paper examines such interrelations to passengers’ expenditure on goods and services during their stay in a port. The analysis is based on a survey on cruise passengers porting in Argostoli, which is the main port of Kefalonia island (Greece). Findings indicate that cruise passengers’ satisfaction is a key element to elevated levels of expenditure during staying on a visited port, since there is a strong correlation between tourists spending and level of tourist satisfaction. This empirical evidence provided from the analysis of the data present implications for policymakers in search of methods to stimulate economic growth and development on tourist destinations.

1 Introduction

Tourism is a catalyst for the economic growth and social development of a region, a state or a country [1]. Cruise tourism is the fastest-growing sector of the global tourism industry, with Mediterranean to be the second most popular cruise destination after the Caribbean [2].

According to the Hellenic Ports Association (ELIME) the 48 Greek ports welcomed 4614 cruise ship arrivals and 4.38 million passengers in 2022, with top cruise destinations the ports of Santorini, Mykonos, Piraeus, Corfu and Rhodes. Moreover, predictions from the cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) estimate that the number of passengers at the port of Piraeus will exceed 1 million in 2023.

Several studies indicate the positive impact of cruise growth in local societies in terms of job opportunities increases, financial benefits for local economies, development of new attractions and facilities for tourists [3]. Empirical findings suggest that in the case of ports of call the economic impact on local communities is mostly affected by cruisers’ expenditure [4]. In addition, there has been a lot of empirical research concerning cruise passenger satisfaction [5] and publications relating passenger expenditure to perceived quality of provided services and satisfaction. In regard to Greece, a campaign ran at the port of Argostoli [6] with the aim to examine the benefits and costs of developing cruise tourism in local communities, such as Kefalonia island. However, the sample size of this research was small (304 valid responses).

The analysis of tourist satisfaction is a key aspect, as it provides valuable information about the purchasing process and has been proven to be an excellent predictor of tourist behaviour and, therefore, of tourism expenditure at the destination. In this end, our paper contribution is to examine the correlation between cruise passengers’ satisfaction and expenditure during their visit, considering other variables such as yearly income, nationality, age, gender and ease of access to places of interest. In addition, we have highlighted the sectors concentrating the expressed dissatisfaction of cruise passengers that should be the basis of a future collaboration between private sector and local competent authorities in order to achieve a deep impact on the qualitative characteristics of the tourist product of the island.

2 Methodology

The analysis is based on a survey on cruise passengers porting in Argostoli, which is the main port of Kefalonia island (Greece). Personal interview (face to face) was the chosen questionnaire distribution/collection method (convenient sample size 1198 responders) [7]. Research team members were stationed at the pier and/or the main port and asked passengers to complete the questionnaires upon their return from their visit on the island. Our sample methodology was based on the simple random sample principles. Although convenient sample, the high number of responders in combination with the long period duration of our survey, allow us to argue that the selected sample fulfils the requirements of a representative sample.

It is important to note that whenever a ship was at anchor (off pier), the number of passengers willing to participate in the survey was significantly lower. This is probably due to induced stress related to the lack of direct access to the ship and the possibility of increased waiting time in the event they missed the tender boat back to the ship. Moreover, a large number of questionnaires was collected during relatively high environmental temperatures and intense sun, due to summer weather, and while the pier site was partially protected from direct sun exposure, research team members stationed at the main port were not allowed access to the shaded waiting area (since there is no passenger terminal at the main port). This had an obvious effect on completed questionnaires ratio, since cruise passengers were less willing to extend their wait under the sun.

The sample consisted of 40% men and 60% women, a ratio consistent with international experience on cruise demographics [6, 8]. We also observed that almost 3 out of 4 passengers belong to the 30–65 age group and about 1 out of 5 is younger than 30 years old, indicating that cruise tourism is an attractive alternative to productive age groups and young people at least during tourism peak periods. In contrast the 66 + age group ratio, usually associated with pensioners, is just 8%.

Another interesting characteristic and an essential tool for the interpretation of survey’s data is the sample’s annual personal income: data analysis shows that 28% of the sample had an annual income of less than 25.000€, while 29, 21 and 22% have an annual income of 25.001–50.000€, 50.001–75.000€ and exceeding 75.000€ respectively.

It should also be stressed that annual personal income is not always possible to be directly connected to issues regarding general consumer behaviour, as this research does not link subjects’ annual income to data concerning family size or living costs by country of origin, to convert nominal income in terms of real income and consumer power. Regardless the abovementioned weaknesses of income related data, annual income can be used to portray the economic profile of cruise passengers and their consumption patterns and potential. Although there seems to be a uniform distribution of the sample to these income groups, it does not mean that the representatives of each group are equally represented. Further analysis is required to verify our considerations about the economic profile of cruise tourists.

3 Satisfaction Versus Spending

As stated earlier the main aim of this paper is to examine the correlation between cruise-passengers satisfaction and expenditures during their stay in Kefalonia. Therefore, some of the questions included in the questionnaire were focused on tourists’ satisfaction. Tourists were asked whether they are satisfied about the services and goods provided during their stay in the island. The services/activities were grouped in the following categories: restaurants (food/beverages), local tourist agents (services provided by local agents), state (services provided by local authorities), shopping and sightseeing.

In addition, one question was broadly focused on sheer satisfaction as expressed by the willingness of tourists to recommend or not Kefalonia as a stop-over tourist destination to a friend. In relation to the latter question the great majority of passengers were satisfied from their visiting experience and a 95% stated that they would consider recommending Kefalonia as a stay over destination to a friend.

All tourists were asked whether they want to mention an unpleased experience (if any) during their visit in the islands. Only the 8% of the sample replied that had some sort of unpleasant experience during their visit on the island, which they were then asked to describe. The relevant answers are shown in Fig. 1. We should bear in mind that in general cruise passengers expect high quality services since while on board, they are in a controlled environment of luxury and security “a tourist bubble” which may “burst” if the situation at destination port is disappointing as expressed by dirty and disorganized towns, unavailable basic infrastructure services, archaeological sites’ opening hours etc.

Fig. 1

Breakdown of complaints

The sector with the greatest dissatisfaction reported is transportation services, including taxi services, public transport (density and routes) and car rental agencies, equally sharing almost 42% of cruise passengers’ expressed dissatisfaction. It should be noted that in tourism context, satisfaction is primarily referred to as a function of pre-travel expectations and post-travel experiences. When experiences compared to expectations result in feelings of gratification, the tourist is satisfied. However, when they result in feelings of displeasure, the tourist is dissatisfied. Complaints about taxi services consider the relative scarcity of taxis at the pier during cruise arrivals, communication difficulties with taxi drivers (linguistic barriers) and more than often cases of profiteering. Passengers also expressed a discomfort because of lack of information regarding routes and timetables of public transports (buses). There were also complaints concerning car rental agencies’ policies. Based on passengers’ oral comments most of the agencies refuse to rent out cars (or motorcycles) for periods shorter than 3 days during high season (mainly due to shortage of cars available and administrative costs), to the frustration of cruise passengers who would prefer a private daily trip to the sites of their preference. In addition, several complains were expressed regarding the working hours of the souvenir shops.

On that same list, although with a significantly lower frequency, there was an expressed dissatisfaction concerning a number of other issues, such as road signs, quality of the roadways, catering services, linguistic barriers in communication, health services offered by the hospital, opening hours of museums and post office, while another 14% mentioned several other issues not related to services provided by public or private industries (e.g. weather conditions, prices).

Passengers’ consumption pattern analysis and family/personal expenditure distribution on local products and services are important for research purposes regarding both the evaluation of cruise passengers’ responses on locally offered services, but also a guide for future targeted marketing strategies concerning Kefalonia’s tourist product. From the analysis, it is computed that each respondent spent about 24€ on average during his/her visit on the island. It is important to note that these expenditures concern only cash-flow generated by cruise passengers during their visit in Kefalonia and do not include other services purchased by cruise-passengers while on board (eg. shore excursions). These expenses are broken down to 9.6€ for catering (food/beverage) services, 7.7€ for purchases from local stores and 6.7€ for transports (excluding on board island-tour bookings) with either private (taxi) or public means (bus). Transport costs usually concern individuals or small groups who choose to explore the destination on their own, since most passengers will purchase tours offered onboard (quality of the tour is guaranteed by the cruise line and they are certain that they will get back on time) This kind of distribution shows that the economic benefits from the addition of Argostoli to the cruise port of call list, diffuse throughout the local economic circuit to cover all businesses with a direct or indirect link to tourism.

About the real expenditures, the distribution of individual expenditure per visitor ranges from zero and may exceed 120€, with a higher concentration in small and medium sums. As depicted in Figs. 2, 3 out 10 spent less than 30€, 1 out of 4 spent amounts ranging from 31 to 60€, while 15, 10 and 16% spent amounts ranging from 61 to 90€, 91–120 € and over 120 € respectively. A 6% of the passengers did not spend anything on their visit, while on the other hand a substantial 26% showed high consumption patterns, spending more than 90€. This is indicative of several cruise passengers’ intentions to spend large sums on entertainment/recreation, as long as services and activities offered correspond to their interests.

Fig. 2

Distribution of individual expenditure

Fig. 3

Expenses per category

Beyond the preliminary study of the raw data provided, there is evidence of a correlation between satisfaction and spending, meaning that passengers with better impressions of the quality of services provided, tend to spend more on their visit. During the survey we asked subjects to rate the services and activities provided during their visit in Kefalonia. As stated earlier the services were grouped in the following categories: Restaurants /food—beverages (Res), Sightseeing (Sig), Local Tourist Agencies (LTA), State infrastructure (S) and Shopping attractiveness (Sh).

To explore whether there is a correlation between spending and satisfaction, we examine the data in relation to spending in combination with the satisfactory data. The following Fig. 3 shows expenses by category regarding the sample’s size, after we divide it to three distinct subgroups according to spending. The first sub group (59% of the sample), consists of those whose spending was less than 60€, while the second (25%) and the third (16%) consist of those who spent between 61€ and 120€ or over 120€ respectively. We then relate each subgroup’s spending to excellent ratings of services and activities provided. It becomes apparent that the percentage of excellent ratings in the low spending subgroup, is in all service/activities categories lower than subgroup’s total sample percentage (blue column and dashed red line), while on the other hand medium and high spending subgroups clearly indicate higher percentages of excellent ratings compared to the relevant percentage of the total sample.

Focusing on the services/activities more related to direct cash- flow expenditures, in Fig. 4 is presented the relation between the highest spending (above of 120€) with the level of satisfaction for each service/activities category. It is more than clear that passengers showing higher levels of satisfaction also showed a propensity of increased spending (over 120€), while on the other hand subjects showing low satisfaction levels were more likely to spend less during their visit. It is also obvious that increased spending is influenced by satisfaction levels (the dashed-blue-line indicates the percentage of the total sample spent more than 120€). Indeed, less than 5% of dissatisfied passengers spent more than 120€, a percentage which is well below than the relevant percentage (16%) of the total sample. On the other hand, high spending proportion clearly increases along satisfaction levels and is constantly over 16% for all rating services “good” or “excellent”.

Fig. 4

High spending and satisfaction

To explore further the relation between the level of satisfaction and the amount of direct cash spent by tourists, during their visit in the island, from a more quantitative point of view, the following graph presents the scatter diagram of the total direct spending and the average level of satisfaction. The average level of satisfaction is determined by the average of the levels of satisfaction for the three activities more related to direct cash spending (Restaurant, Shopping and Sightseeing), while the total direct spending represents the total amount of money spent by tourists during their visit. The positive slope of the relevant linear regression trend line reaffirms our initial findings regarding the existence of a positive correlation between spending and satisfaction (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5

Spending versus satisfaction

Taking into account the findings of the qualitative and quantitative analysis presented previously and although there may be other variables influencing spending such as weather conditions, visit time etc., we strongly believe that there is a indisputable correlation between satisfaction levels and expenditure. This is a very interesting point to stress indeed, since besides its value in terms of analysis, it can also point to actions that need to be taken from competent authorities and local business alike to augment tourist experience and increase passengers’ expenditure. Kefalonia like most Greek islands has many touristic competitive advantages deriving from its scenic landscapes and unique culture, most of which remain latent due to lack of information and targeted touristic marketing. Since a large portion of cruise passengers belong to high income groups with a higher expenditure propensity and expenditure is directly linked to overall tourist experience, it is of the outmost importance to promote quality and diversified touristic services to maximize the touristic gains for Kefalonia.

4 Discussion and Conclusions

Considering data deriving from a face to face survey, this paper has investigated the relation of satisfaction to cruise passengers’ expenditure during their visit in a port. The main findings of this paper clearly indicate that cruise passengers’ satisfaction has a strong correlation with the level of satisfaction. Regardless the profile of a cruise passenger our analysis reveals the major role of the cruise passengers’ satisfaction to the relevant cash-flow expenditure generated by them during their stay. Cruise tourists are willing to spend large sums on entertainment/recreation, as long as services and activities offered correspond to their interests and quality standards. We established that although there may be other variables influencing expenditure, higher satisfaction levels lead to increased expenditure.

A passengers’ satisfaction monitoring system that will take into account theses variables would be a very useful tool to this direction for the assessment of current situation and to indicate future measures and actions. Cooperation between competent authorities and tourism related entrepreneurs would be crucial in regulating matters as the qualitative characteristics of provided services, working hours for cultural sites and stores and initiatives targeted to increase passenger information (distribution of tourist maps and brochures) on points of tourist interest.

Various questions concerning the total impact of cruise tourism in local and regional economies, social media the internet and tourism marketing have been raised through this survey allowing us to continue our research in various aspects of the cruise tourist.