Word of mouth and satisfaction in cruise port destinations

Abstract

As acknowledged, in addition to a short-term economic (monetary) value, cruise activities can also provide a destination with an additional (non-monetary) value, ‘showcasing’ the tourist attractions to several visitors, who, after the cruise experience, may potentially recommend the same destination to relatives, friends and colleagues. This paper contributes to the theme of the cruise tourism impact on the local community, assuming a long-term perspective, and investigates the effect of overall destination satisfaction on cruiser's word-of-mouth (WoM) attitude in three Italian ports. The study analyses the relation between port-related satisfaction attributes and overall destination satisfaction. The empirical findings confirm the positive association between overall destination satisfaction and WoM attitude. In particular, the outcomes on port-related satisfaction attributes demonstrate the key role of the availability of well-designed and comfortable shopping areas and the endowment of properly organized and reliable ground transportation services as antecedents of the overall destination satisfaction. The results are consistent with and add to the academic literature. It is recommended that public policy makers (e.g. Port Authorities, Municipalities, etc.) should play a more significant role as stakeholders’ coordinators, to facilitate the dialogue between the various private actors affecting overall destination satisfaction and long-term value creation.