Page 21 - North American & Caribbean Cruise Traveller
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Industry Insider:
North American & Caribbean Cruise Duty & Tax Free Retail 2015
2 THE N. AMERICAN & CARIBBEAN CRUISE TRAVELLER
Our research indicates that, the majority of those embarking on a cruise within the North American & Caribbean region travel on medium to long term duration trips. For the majority, the primary driver for taking a recreational cruise is a positive previous experience, indicating the importance of at least meeting customer expectations, if not exceeding them.
The extent to which a cruise has the potential to both meet and exceed traveller expectations is driven by various factors, both within the cruise operators control (such as dining facilities, cabin types, and entertainment) and outside the operators control (such as weather conditions or external excursions). However, as we will outline in this section, whilst a wide range of on-board facilities are not the key driver of a cruise, they are very important tool in driving traveller satisfaction.
2.1 NORTH AMERICAN & CARIBBEAN CRUISE TRAVELLER TENDENCIES
2.1.1 CRUISE DURATION
Medium to long cruises dominate passenger traffic among cruise travellers in the North American & Caribbean region, with 80% of cruise travellers embarking on a cruise of 4 – 13 nights most recently.
Our research indicates a clear trend between cruise duration and traveller age, with younger travellers being significantly more likely to embark on a medium duration cruise and older travellers significantly more likely to embark on a long duration cruise.
The higher incidence of younger travellers embarking on medium cruise types is likely to be driven by available vacation time. Although US employers are not required by law to provide paid annual leave, a high proportion provide some, with this increasing as the employees tenure at the organisation increases. This also illustrates why longer cruise vacations are more feasible among older travellers who have accrued greater holiday entitlement during their career.
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