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Cruise visitors' intentions and behaviour in Japan

Four years after the visit, few respondents say they have returned, while 96.1% say they have talked about it with others: stated intention to return is a weak indicator.

Cruise Tourism in Japanese Coastal Cities: The Role of Revisit and Word-of-Mouth Intentions as Proxies for Behavior — Ozturk, U.A. · Journal of Tourismology, 9(2), pp. 180-194

WhereJapan
Year2023
SourceJournal of Tourismology, 9(2), pp. 180-194
Strength of methodMedium

The question

Whether cruise passengers' stated intentions to return to and recommend a Japanese city translate into actual return visits and word of mouth, and which factors (satisfaction with destination attributes, distance, previous visits) influence those intentions.

The method

Two-wave survey: in 2018, questionnaires given to passengers (and crew) at 33 calls in 13 Japanese cities; for the analysis, 580 valid responses from July-December, plus January-June data for validation. In 2022, an email follow-up (17% response rate) with 77 valid responses, excluding residents of China and crew. Consistent PLS-SEM models with bootstrapping.

What the study finds

4.15 out of 5overall satisfaction with the city visitedSurveyed cruise visitors say they are satisfied overall with the city visited (4.15 out of 5). Among the aspects rated, shopping gets the lowest average score (3.72), while cleanliness, safety and hospitality are rated best.
4.60 out of 5average score for destination cleanlinessCleanliness is the best-rated aspect of the destination, averaging 4.60 out of 5.
50%stated likelihood of returning within three yearsOn average respondents put their likelihood of returning to the same city within three years at 50% (5.0 on a 0-10 scale) and of recommending it at 68.6% (6.9 out of 10); 86% were visiting for the first time.
coeff. −0.25weight of home distance on return intentionIn the model, the distance between home and destination has the largest weight on the intention to return, in a negative direction (coefficient -0.25), more than overall satisfaction (0.19) and the number of previous visits (0.15).
  • In the 2022 follow-up (77 responses), just 11.7% say they had returned to the city visited in 2018, while 96.1% say they had talked about it with others.
  • Intentions stated in 2018 explain only a small part of the behaviour reported four years later: 14.4% of the variance in return visits and 9.3% in word-of-mouth.
  • Against a background of good satisfaction, the author notes discontent with shopping, short stays and information on the places visited, and proposes that port offices and cruise lines improve information on attractions and shops near terminals and that ships stay longer in port.
Why it matters for ports and cities

For ports of call, the intention to return stated at the end of a visit proves a weak indicator: few cruise visitors actually come back, while almost all talk about their visit. Information, length of stay, transport and the offer near the terminal therefore mainly affect word-of-mouth, and efforts to encourage return visits should be tailored to how far away source markets are.

Limitations

Small second wave (77 responses) with no residents of China, who made up over half of the initial sample; single-item scales; convenience sampling; the window for return visits was effectively cut to about 21.5 months by pandemic restrictions.

Full reference and source

Ozturk, U.A. (2023). Cruise Tourism in Japanese Coastal Cities: The Role of Revisit and Word-of-Mouth Intentions as Proxies for Behavior. Journal of Tourismology, 9(2), pp. 180-194.

Read the original study ↗

Summary written by the ODYBOAT Observatory in our own words. Tables and figures belong to the authors.