Cruise ship tourism is one of two major components of marine based tourism. The other component of marine based tourism is yachting. In the past few years the cruise ship industry has shown steady and impressive rates of growth. It is expected to be a growth industry for a number of years to come.
However, as this industry grows, there are a number of challenges that may slow the growth. Some of the challenges that face the industry include; perception that cruises pose a greater danger to the vacationer than other forms of vacation, fuel, competition from hotels and increasing capacity of ships and ports.
Increased danger
Cruising as a form of vacation is perceived by some as being more dangerous than other competing vacations. The industry faces both real and perceived dangers from disease and crime. Though some dangers are real, they have been blown out of proportion and they may slow the future growth of the industry.
It has been reported that many would be cruise ship tourists shy away from it because they believe that they would became ill at sea. This belief may greatly hinder the growth of the industry and needs to be addressed by all the industry players especially the cruise operators.
Fear of falling victim to crime while at sea is also a big hindrance to the growth of passenger numbers. In the past few years there has been an increase in the number of acts of terrorism in general. Sea piracy is of particular concern to the cruise ship industry. With increasing piracy in some regions, the cruise ship operators have been forced to abandon some lucrative destinations.
This is very costly to the industry as some of the destinations were expected to open up and provide the much needed growth to the industry. Without these areas the growth of the industry may become stagnant. Sea safety should therefore be guaranteed especially by governments that rely on cruise ship industry as a source of revenue.
Fuel
The cruise industry faces a number of challenges related to fuel. Increasing costs and environmental degradation are two challenges of major concern. Cruise ships have traditionally relied on diesel as their main source of energy. As the ships increase in size, their fuel consumption increases almost proportionately.
This increased consumption inadvertently produces greater emissions and therefore increased environmental degradation. The cost of fuel has been rising in the past thus pushing up the running costs of the cruise ship operators (Dwyer 12). These challenges have forced the operators to balance between customer satisfaction and environmental conservation.
Competition with hotels
The cruise ship industry is facing stiff competition from hotels. Hotels have been positioning themselves as the holiday destinations of choice.
They have employed several strategies to do that. Key among them is provision of high range services at a lower cost. Some high spending tourists may choose hotels over cruising if they find that the services provided by hotels are commensurate with those provided by the cruise ships.
Congestion
Ships have increased in size with increase in the number of cruise ship tourists. Increase in the number of passengers carries with it a challenge for the industry.
If many of such big ships dock at one port of call, the port will experience congestion and its attendant problems. Over time this may lead to a decline in revenue of the operators. Vacationers may avoid these destinations due to the expected increase in traffic to these ports.
To mitigate all these challenges the industry needs to employ calculated approaches. All the mitigation measures need to be carried out simultaneously for a better outcome.
Work Cited
Dwyer, Larry; Douglas, Ngaire and Zelko, Livaic. ‘‘Estimating the Economic Contribution of a Cruise Ship Visit.’’ Tourism in Marine Environments 1. (2004): 5-16. Print.