Page 35 - North American & Caribbean Cruise Traveller

3.1.2 ASPECTS RESEARCHED
Industry Insider:
North American & Caribbean Cruise Duty & Tax Free Retail 2015
Room and cabin types are the aspects of a cruise that are most frequently researched in advance, with 3 in 5 travellers exploring their cabin options. The size and style of the ship, destinations visited and excursions services are all researched by around half looking at cruise information prior to the trip, while 2 in 5 seek information about the on-board restaurants. All five aspects of the cruise that are most likely to be explored in advance are significantly more likely to be researched by older travellers, while all other aspects of the cruise are of greater interest to younger travellers, including on-board shopping.
Only a quarter of travellers chose to find out more about the on-board retail offer prior to their trip, making this one of the least researched aspects of the cruise. However, from our research, we have found that on-board Duty & Tax Free shopping on cruise liner websites, service brochures, and other sources has fairly low coverage, potentially explaining its low position in terms of areas researched. This being said,
Our findings illustrate the importance of on-board shopping among the North American & Caribbean cruise traveller, and cruise line operators should therefore look to incorporate areas of their websites dedicated to the shopping available on-board the cruise. This has the potential to encourage travellers to plan their shopping alongside other aspects of their trip. Furthermore, by providing trip specific mobile phone apps or website links, cruise operators have the opportunity to communicate the key on-board shopping opportunities, such as best sellers, differentiated product offering and ‘must-buys’ to the traveller both on-board the cruise liner as well as pre-trip, alongside other information, such as excursion services.
ASPECTS OF THE TRIP RESEARCHED
Base: Trip researchers (752)
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