Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2017.1314789
The segmentation of the demand for ferry travel – a case study of Stena Line
Joanna Kizielewicz
Anntti Haahti
Tihomir Luković
Daniela Gračan
Abstract
In an era of fierce competitive struggle about clients, enterprises
seek information on characteristics of the main customer segments
purchasing their services and goods. This knowledge is crucial to
the marketing efforts of enterprises. The purpose of this research is
to understand the changes in demand due to the diversity of travel
motives. The study identifies distinct segments of travellers due to
their motives of ferry travel, i.e., tourism, visiting relatives, work-/
business-related and also three other segments with a mixture of
these motives. It is also shown that each of these segments has a
different profile in terms of their behavioural and socio-demographic
characteristics. This article presents the results of surveys carried
out among passengers travelling by Stena Line ferries on the route
from Gdynia (Poland) to Karlskrona (Sweden), as well as the results
of a literature review and ‘desk research’ of available statistics. The
method of realisation of representative study can be useful for other
researchers and the results of the study can be an interesting source
of information both for ferry carriers and other entities in the tourist
sector in the Baltic Sea region.
Keywords
Ferry travel; tourism; demand; segmentation
Hrčak ID:
182585
URI
Publication date:
1.12.2017.
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