THE CRUISE INDUSTRY

ITINERARIES AND DESTINATIONS

Itineraries and destinations available onboard cruise ships, with multitude of options all around the world.

In a first approach to the content of this section, we can define the difference between destination, which are the port of call scheduled to be visited by a cruise ship; and itinerary, covering multiple destinations grouped together by a cruise line. Two different, although interrelated, aspects of a same reality that conditions the efforts of a industry in a constant development and evolution to provide its clientele with larger and more specialized fleets able to respond to a growing demand for new cruise services around the world.

Cruising, more than most vacation and travel experiences, and even for those who consider themselves seasoned travellers, is an exposure to new destinations and itineraries that offer the opportunity to experience and enjoy exotic places, cultures and people in a fascinating way to see the world.

An international economic activity with many implications that affect, among others, ports and land-based tourism companies, entering or already established in the cruise market, providing them with an excellent opportunity to promote and develop new projects and ideas to allure cruise passengers arriving yearly at their installations.

In the other hand, some studies on destination demand show that a majority of tourists choose to visit more than one destination in their vacation trips, as a result of a general perception on multi-destination vacations as more beneficial in terms of saving time and money associated with the travel, and minimization of the risk and uncertainty derived from the visit to a single and unknown destination. Therefore, by visiting different places, tourists accumulate more and more diversified experiences, which satisfy both individual and collective preferences.

As a consequence, the cruise industry has updated its services by offering more flexible itineraries and trip options to attract and satisfy a much broader market segment, including stops in countries and ports throughout the Americas, Asia, Europe and South Pacific, which offer the opportunity to explore interesting and remote destinations and geographical areas.