Business Excellence, Vol. 8 No. 2, 2014.
Preliminary communication
COMPETITIVENESS OF PORTS ON THE CRUISE MARKET: CASE OF DUBROVNIK PORT
Deša Rathman
; Ploče Port Authority
Katarina Varez
; Dubrovnik Port Authority
Abstract
In case of sea cruises, what makes a particular package more attractive is the choice of itinerary (sea route) with ports of call. However, this form of tourist product also consists of a number of elements of supply that is being generated on board. These elements are increasingly important, thus developing ships - destinations with main characteristics of diversity and volume of additional contents, in addition to basic accommodation and catering facilities. However, despite this characteristic of cruise development trend, destinations
included within the itinerary will always remain the primary factor in the attractiveness of a certain package. The choice of destination, and the inclusion of individual itineraries depend on satisfying a number of criteria. From the point of view of destination management structure, meeting the requirements of the market position of sea cruises
seeks knowledge of the competitive environment, as well as factors of competitiveness and the importance of their role in the selection process. In conditions of extreme cruise market dynamics of and intense battle for market position, it will be increasingly important to maintain competitiveness. Competitiveness of a tourist destination represents the ability of destinations to meet the demands of customers
/ visitors more effi ciently than the competition, and to provide satisfactory value for money. The main factor in the competitiveness of cruise destinations is tourist resource. Dubrovnik has tourism resources or cultural - historical heritage whose value has long been acknowledged and recognized in the world. Cruise tourism sets specific requirements on the destination and valuates it according to the possibilities of exploiting destination for high quality half-day or all-day tours. Dubrovnik mostly meets these requirements. The need to define cruise development policy in Dubrovnik is based on the necessity of understanding the current position, nature and laws, as well as mutual relations of certain phenomena in the market. Knowing the competitive position and whether and how they impact on the further development is of great importance in the context of designing guidelines for the future. Comparative analysis of port fees and charges in the Mediterranean destinations marked as Dubrovnik competitive destinations showed that Dubrovnik is very competitive from the standpoint of this factor. Port competitiveness on the cruise market can not be viewed in isolation from the tourist destination product which
is the primary criterion for inclusion in this market and the analysis includes factors relating to the suitability of a cruise destination.
Keywords
port competitiveness; port system; pricing policy; tourist destination product
Hrčak ID:
133237
URI
Publication date:
22.12.2014.
Visits: 2.004 *