Customer perceptions of COVID-19 countermeasures on passenger ships during the pandemic

Johnny Långstedt; Jonas Spohr; Magnus Hellström; Anastasia Tsvetkova; Erik Niemelä; Joakim Sjöblom; John E Eriksson; Kim Wikström

doi:10.1016/j.trip.2021.100518

Customer perceptions of COVID-19 countermeasures on passenger ships during the pandemic

Transp Res Interdiscip Perspect. 2022 Mar:13:100518. doi: 10.1016/j.trip.2021.100518. Epub 2021 Dec 18.

Authors

Johnny Långstedt¹, Jonas Spohr¹, Magnus Hellström¹, Anastasia Tsvetkova¹, Erik Niemelä^{2

3

1}, Joakim Sjöblom⁴, John E Eriksson^{2

3

5}, Kim Wikström^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Industrial Management, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland.
² Cell Biology, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland.
³ Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland.
⁴ PBI Research Institute, Turku, Finland.
⁵ Euro-Bioimaging ERIC, Turku, Finland.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic devastated substantial portions of the tourism industry; the cruise industry particularly suffered from negative publicity as the virus spread rapidly on cruise ships. The pandemic is a disaster that the industry has been forced to adapt to. This study illustrates, through a mixed-methods research design, what factors cruiseferry operators considered in their responses to the pandemic, whether the implemented countermeasures increased their customers' sense of security, and what countermeasures customers would agree to follow before boarding a ship. The study thereby provides insights into which countermeasures are likely to decrease customers' perceived health risks and which they are ready to accept or not on cruises during pandemics.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cruise industry; Cruiseferry; Customer acceptance; Disaster management; Risk perception; Travel behaviour.