Quality of service as a factor of forming competitiveness in cruise tourism

Abstract

The article highlights the development trends of the cruise industry as a promising direction of tourism industry, which shows steady growth over the past ten years. The aim of the article is to determine the current trends in the cruise market development in modern conditions and the levers for competitive tourist offer formation, taking into account the key principles of behavioral and impression economy. Using the methods of analysis and synthesis made it possible to generalize the competitive advantages of cruise tourism in accordance with modern development trends in the context of an inclusive economy of impressions. The factors of competitiveness formation in cruise tourism are highlighted and the importance of service quality as a determining factor for meeting the needs of tourists is substantiated, which affects the overall satisfaction of tourists and their choice in the future. A number of factors that have a significant influence on the competitiveness formation in cruise tourism are considered. The generally accepted factors that have a significant influence on the cruise industry competitiveness and their relationship with the basic principles of impression economy are analyzed. The interrelation of offer differentiation taking into account the individual subjectivity of the consumer is substantiated. It was proven, that marketing, innovation and service quality are elements of brand image formation and vital elements in a commercial environment and key factors for success in the cruise business sector. The emphasis is made on the importance of service component in the cruise industry competitiveness formation. Recommendations for identifying effective mechanisms for determining the degree of customer satisfaction are formulated. Key groups of quality indicators of cruise services which can influence the general satisfaction of tourists are proposed. The expediency of conducting a survey and questioning of cruise passengers in order to further improve the quality of cruise tourism services to increase the company’s competitiveness is substantiated.