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Authors
Abstract(s)
This dissertation comes in a period of uncertainty for tourism and consequently for
cruises, a period that requires enlightening and quick answers on the way forward, thus based
on the theme of Cruise Tourism and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Cruise Tourism sector is possibly the most well-known sector with the fastest
development in the Tourism industry. An example of this is the contribution of this sector to
the global economy, and in 2019 it generated US$154.5 billion. In turn, cruise tourism in
Europe generated US$64.5 billion, or 42% of the total contribution of global production (CLIA,
2020b). This sector produces significant social effects and capital volumes and creates various
jobs. Thus, subthemes were studied within the great theme of Cruise Tourism, such as the
industry's evolution to this day.
The author intended to make a round-up on the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on
everyday life, the tourism industry, and the cruise sector to better understand the pandemic’s
consequences in this market.
A conceptual model was developed to summarize the literature review regarding risk
perception and travel intentions (together with other constructs that support them). Based on
that model and the extensive literature review, hypotheses were made to guide this thesis’
empirical analysis better.
Through questionnaires, this dissertation met the opinion of tourists concerning the
practice of post-pandemic cruises to conclude whether these remain an attractive tourist product
or are considered a danger. The sample is composed of 536 answers from all over the world.
Generation and Cruise Experience were used as independent constructs to analyse whether
tourists’ responses were different regarding their age or whether they were repeaters or firsttimers.
Then, by interconnecting these themes, it was possible to understand how this pandemic
has changed (or not) tourists' risk perception and how this affected their future intentions to
take a cruise.
It can be concluded that the obtained results go in accordance with the literature, and
responses do change with the independent constructs. Tourists do not seem afraid of contracting
the disease, but they certainly recognize that there is much buzz around the pandemic. When
looking at Cruise Tourism, most tourists do not recognize cruise ships as too crowded but are
somewhat reluctant about taking a cruise in the future and how COVID will affect their trips.
Plus, tourists recognize the benefits and consequent value of taking a cruise and still trust cruise
companies and staff to overcome adversities. Overall, results show that tourists do have
intentions of going on a cruise in the future but are not so sure about when that future is going
to be.
Description
Keywords
Cruise Tourism COVID-19 Risk Perception Travel Intentions