To Dine, or Not to Dine on a Cruise Ship in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Tripartite Approach towards an Understanding of Behavioral Intentions among Female Passengers

The impacts of COVID-19 on the cruise industry based on an empirical study in China

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the entire cruise industry. This research aims to provide an understanding of the impacts of COVID-19 on the cruise industry from various stakeholders and recommend corresponding post-COVID recovery strategies for building a sustainable cruise industry. By conducting 22 semi-structured interviews in Shanghai, China and analysing the interview data using content analysis, this research finds five aspects of the impacts that are worth discussing, namely social, health and well-being, regulatory, operational, and financial aspects. Key findings include the impacts of different stakeholders' opinions, the problems existing in the current cruise industry, and the potential for future improvement. Recommendations and recovery strategies are proposed to mitigate the negative impacts. This research not only explores the impact of COVID-19 on cruise tourism and fosters recommendations in the most fast-developing region (China) but also facilitates researchers and policymakers to understand the effects of the pandemic and proposes future risk mitigation strategies.

Using big data to estimate the impact of cruise activity on congestion in port cities

By using big data that are generated by crowdsourced mobility platforms and GPS devices, policymakers can now better understand the relationship between cruise activities and traffic congestion, identify key areas in the road network that need traffic flow improvement, and design appropriate measures to take advantage of cruise tourism while mitigating its effects on urban mobility. This study uses big data and econometric techniques to analyze the relationship between traffic congestion and cruise activity for five of the busiest cruise destinations in South America and the Caribbean: Buenos Aires, Callao, Cartagena, Montevideo, and Rio the Janeiro. Over 80 million observations were collected from automatic identification system (AIS) and crowdsourced traffic data platforms for 2019. Results suggest that cruise activity causes a 12% increase in urban congestion. The analysis of big data presented in this paper facilitates the design of customized interventions to ease congestion according to the temporal dynamics of traffic flows, thus leading towards more efficient traffic management.

The psychology of cruise service usage post COVID-19: Health management and policy implications

The cruise industry has suffered a huge loss due to the suspension of cruise operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the industry is preparing for recovery, there is an urgent need for research on cruise consumers' psychology, in particular, the factors influencing their intention to use cruise services after the pandemic. This study employs theories, namely, the health belief model, trust theory and attitude theory, to investigate consumers' use intention for cruise services after the pandemic. An online survey was administered to consumers in China's tourism industry, where 376 responses were received. Subsequently, this study employs structural equation modelling to test its theoretical model consisting of hypotheses. The results show that consumers' trust is directly influenced by health belief constructs including perceived safety threat, outcome expectation, self-efficacy and cues to action. Next, trust exerts a direct impact on consumers' attitude and intention to use cruise services. Moreover, this study finds full and partial mediation effects. The findings provide a series of recommendations for cruise operators and policymakers in terms of marketing strategies, service design, public communication and health measures.

Intention to Take COVID-19 Vaccine as a Precondition for International Travel: Application of Extended Norm-Activation Model

The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious threat to human health, the global economy, and the social fabrics of contemporary societies as many aspects of modern everyday life, including travel and leisure, have been shattered to pieces. Hence, a COVID-19 mandatory vaccination as a precondition for international travel is being debated in many countries. Thus, the present research aimed to study the intention to take the COVID-19 vaccine as a precondition for international travel using an extended Norm-Activation Model. The study model integrates a new construct, namely mass media coverage on COVID-19 vaccination as additional predictor of intention to take the COVID-19 vaccine. The survey data were collected from 1221 international travelers. Structural equation modelling shows a very good fit of the final model to the data; the conceptual model based on extended Norm-Activation Model was strongly supported. Awareness of consequences related to the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals’ health has shown a positive effect on individuals’ ascribed responsibility to adopt emotionally driven (anticipated pride and anticipated guilt) pro-social behaviors that activate a personal norm towards altruistic and pro-mandatory vaccination-friendly behavior. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.