Strong facilities but weak benefits: An empirical evaluation of facility performance and business performance of 14 cruise ports in China

China has been contributing a significant number of tourists to cruise trips. In recent years, China has undertaken large-scale investments in the construction of cruise ports. However, due to the lack of top-level design at the national level, these investments have been somewhat premature, leading to concerns regarding the operation of most cruise ports. A common issue is the discrepancy between strong infrastructure and weak operational efficiency, evidenced by the underutilization of port facilities, low berth occupancy rates, and a mismatch between dock construction standards and service functions. Currently, there is a scarcity of empirical studies based on data addressing these issues. This paper presents an empirical study using 14 cruise ports in China as examples. The study involves the following: 1) An evaluation index system was constructed, and the entropy - TOPSIS model was employed to assess the ‘facility performance’ of the 14 cruise ports. The results revealed a clear differentiation in facility performance, with ports in the Pearl River Delta showing the strongest facilities, while those in the southwestern coastal region exhibited the weakest. 2)The evaluation index system was divided into two categories based on the ‘input-output’ standard, and dimensionality reduction was performed using the PCA model. The DEA model was then used to evaluate ‘operational performance,’ revealing that ports in the Pearl River Delta had the highest efficiency, while those in the southwestern coastal region had the lowest. Controlling input is essential for each port to achieve DEA efficiency. 3)A comparison of the evaluation scores for ‘facility performance’ and ‘operational performance’ of individual and overall Chinese cruise ports indicated significant disparities between the two. This suggests a potential issue of ‘strong facilities, weak benefits ‘among Chinese cruise ports. 4)Eight influencing factors were hypothesized, and the Tobit model was used to analyze the impact of each factor on ‘facility performance’ and ‘operational performance.’ The results showed that the quality of urban economic development and the potential of the consumer market have a significant positive impact. In conclusion, the study suggests that the lag in the ‘operational performance’ of Chinese cruise ports is primarily due to the emphasis on cruise ships over passengers, and on hardware over software, leading to redundant investment from premature construction.