ABSTRACT

This study provides an empirical analysis of the challenges that cruise ports in Europe were facing before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 triggered an unprecedented global health and economic crisis with severe, and potentially structural, consequences for the cruise world. In this context, knowledge of the key challenges that cruise ports need to address builds capacities for conceptualising, but also better responding, in the post-COVID-19 conditions to both pre-existing challenges and the ones produced by the pandemic. The study examines the former group of challenges. It does so analysing a survey answered by 155 cruise ports in 34 countries in the two European markets (North Europe and the Med) just before the pandemic outbreak. The survey identifies the significance of different types of challenges (operational, strategic, societal, environmental), and the hierarchy of challenges referring to the relationships between ports and cruise lines. Detailing which issues were (not) shared by the entire cruise port industry, the findings reveal that the pre-pandemic search for sustainable growth of the cruise activities hosted had led to diverging challenges in each of these two cruise markets. They also establish that port governance models do matter when it comes to the variation of the confronted challenges. These results imply that policy initiatives based on a “one size fits all” approach would provide a rather ineffective helping hand in resolving the major of the identified challenges.

摘要

这项研究提供了对COVID-19大流行爆发之前欧洲邮轮港口所面临挑战的经验分析。COVID-19引发了前所未有的全球健康和经济危机，对邮轮业造成了严重的甚至可能是结构性的后果。在这种情况下，了解邮轮港口需要解决的关键挑战，不仅可以增强概念能力，而且可以在COVID-19后的条件下更好地应对既有挑战和大流行所带来的挑战。该研究考察了前一组挑战。这样做是为了分析在大流行爆发之前，在两个欧洲市场（北欧和地中海）的34个国家/地区的155个邮轮港口回答的一项调查。该调查确定了不同类型挑战的重要性（运营，战略，社会，环境），以及挑战等级（指港口和邮轮之间的关系）。调查结果详细介绍了整个邮轮港口行业未（哪些）共享的问题，这些发现表明，大流行前对托管邮轮活动的可持续增长的搜索已导致这两个邮轮市场各自面临不同的挑战。他们还确定，在面对面临的挑战时，港口治理模型确实很重要。这些结果表明，基于“一刀切”的政策举措将无法有效地帮助解决已查明的主要挑战。调查结果详细介绍了整个邮轮港口行业未（哪些）共享的问题，这些发现表明，大流行前对托管邮轮活动的可持续增长的搜索已导致这两个邮轮市场各自面临不同的挑战。他们还确定，在面对面临的挑战时，港口治理模型确实很重要。这些结果表明，基于“一刀切”的政策举措将无法有效地帮助解决已查明的主要挑战。调查结果详细介绍了整个邮轮港口行业未（哪些）共享的问题，这些发现表明，大流行前对托管邮轮活动的可持续增长的搜索已导致这两个邮轮市场各自面临不同的挑战。他们还确定，在面对面临的挑战时，港口治理模型确实很重要。这些结果表明，基于“一刀切”的政策举措将无法有效地帮助解决已查明的主要挑战。