Perceptions and behaviour of cruise tourists during their visit to a port of call

Abstract

[EN] The purpose of the present research is to assess the perceptions of authenticity and crowding of cruise tourists visiting a port of call and its influence on their future behavioural intentions. The research was carried out in the city of Valencia, because it is one of the main Spanish cruise ports and is a representative city of the Mediterranean ports of call for the cruise business. A total of 467 valid interviews were obtained. For the analysis of data, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 22.0) was used. The findings reveal that Valencia is perceived as an authentic destination with moderate levels of human and spatial crowding. The analysis also demonstrates that there is a significant relationship between the assessed perceptions and the post-visit behavioural intentions, although, in the case of crowding, the association varies depending on the nature of crowding.