Case Study: Princess Cruises, Tourism Trends & Strategic Management

This case study critically analyzes two emergent global trends in the tourism and hospitality industry—luxury travel and personalized onboard experiences—and their strategic importance to Princess Cruises, an organization operating in an international environment. It provides an overview of the current cruise industry climate, highlighting the increasing sales and booking volumes, and discusses Princess Cruises' role in offering economic and luxurious travel experiences. The analysis delves into issues associated with luxury travel, such as support shortages and political tensions, and proposes solutions like improved staff recruitment and proactive monitoring of political situations. Regarding personalized onboard experiences, the study identifies potential problems like food spoilage and technical breakdowns, suggesting solutions such as regular food supply checks and thorough electronic system maintenance. The study concludes that Princess Cruises can maintain its growth by addressing these challenges and adapting to changing trends in the tourism industry.

Running head: TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Tourism and Hospitality Management
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Overview of the current cruise industry climate........................................................................2
Company overview....................................................................................................................4
First trend: Luxury travel........................................................................................................4
Second trend: Personalised onboard experience....................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
Reference....................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
In the modern changing it is important to identify the emerging trends that may have
an effect on the possibility of gaining profit for an organisation. According to Ahola,
Salovuori and Lehtonen (2015), changes and emergence of trends in the tourism and
hospitality industry has been massive and it is for this reason that precautions have been
taken to ensure that these changes are met with a positive aspect. Every change that takes
place in the tourism and hospitality industry can be attributed to the growing demands of the
customers and the rise of competition from other companies within the industry.
The assignment focuses on analysing the changes that has taken place in the cruise
ship industry. The cruise ship industry is one of the oldest hospitality management that has
been in existence since the beginning of modern vehicles. Therefore, recent trends and
changes can have a significant effect on the development of the industry and the manner in
which people respond to it. The focus of the study is on two emerging trends that have a
significant impact on the cruise ship industry. These trends include the luxury travel and the
personalised onboard experience that people have while travelling via a cruise. The
organisation that is in focus is the Princess Cruises.
Overview of the current cruise industry climate
Currently the cruise industry climate can be considered as an emerging trend mainly
due to the interest of the people in trying to make a trip around the world. Analysis from
Mendes and Guerreiro (2017) stated that number of sales of the cruise industry is on the rise
from its initial years. Records show that 79% of the travel agents are usually interested in
booking a cruise course for an effective mode of travelling. This has been consistent for
several years and has not seen any type of fluctuations. As pointed out by Chua et al. (2015)

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cruise is one of the most economical mode of travelling and many families find it to be an
appealing form of travel each day.
Due to this, there has been a considerable increase in the scheduling of various cruise
liners so that more customers can be taken for the industry. Current records say that the
booking volume is continuously on the increase and about 41% of the travel agents have
stated the rise of cruise booking by 10% each year. At the same time, sales of the cruise ship
have also increased to 22% as opposed to the 17% in the past few years. Therefore, as stated
by Kriwoken and Hardy (2018) cruise ships is considered as a positive influence in the
increase of sales in the industry.
Figure 1: Booking volume
(Source: Mileski, Wang and Beacham 2014)
Figure 2: Sales volume

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(Source: Vairo et al. 2017)
Company overview
Princess Cruises is considered as one of the cruise line ships in the world. It provides
people with an opportunity to travel the world at an economic cost and at the same time
ensures that services of the customers are provided to their satisfaction. Princess Cruises
provides authentic food as well as help in discovering the world with a variety of customers
(Princess.com. 2018). The uniqueness of the cruise is that it provides opportunities to explore
immersive destination at a fair cost and luxurious travel experience. The cruise liner provides
insights about a particular destination to the customers by gaining knowledge from the local
experts. It is known sail over 380 destinations across the world covering major countries
along the way (Princess.com. 2018). It also provides fresh cuisines from around the world
that makes it an impressive cruise liner to travel with by spending less amount of money.
However, despite its success, it is necessary that Princess Cruises comply with the recent
trends that exist within the cruise line industry. These changes of trends can help the cruise
liner to increase its sales and ensure that more countries with tourist destinations can be
covered.
First trend: Luxury travel
Issues
In order to travel in a luxurious manner it is necessary that a cruise liner takes into
account the factors that can help it to maintain its effectiveness and satisfaction of the
customers (Klein 2018). In the case of the Princess Cruisers the luxurious trip that is
promised to the customers are usually smooth and ensures that loyalty and further
recommendation of the customers are present. However, as stated by Gmelch and Kaul
(2018) despite the effectiveness satisfaction of the customers, certain issues do exist that may

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cause a hindrance in the smooth travelling of the customers. One such issue that can be a
hindrance is that of the shortage of support.
The reason behind the occurrence of this particular issue is that with the sudden
increase in terms of customers availing the cruise ship, it can be difficult for cruise liners to
cope up with the demands of the customers. Therefore, the number of attendants at the cruise
liners can be depleted and this may cause dissatisfaction among the customers. In the case of
Princess Cruisers, the attendants are more or less capable of providing good service to the
customers. However, issue may arise if the number of customers becomes more or the
demand of the customers increases at a subsequent level.
Apart from this another issue that may be raised during the luxurious travel may
include political tension between the countries. As pointed out by Mahadevan and Chang
(2017) most of the countries refrain from allowing foreign cruisers without proper permit or
due to political tensions between countries. Therefore, passengers on board the cruiser can
feel tension due to any political scenario. This may cause hindrance as the relaxed manner in
which the cruise can take place may be jeopardised and customers may feel harassed.
However, despite these issues, solutions regarding dealing with the situations can be provided
for Princess Cruisers to continue going with the existence.
Solution
After analysing the issues that may arise during the luxury cruise experience, it is
necessary to provide recommendation to Princess Cruisers so that it can ensure that the issues
do not cause unnecessary hindrance to the customers. In the case of dealing with the number
of attendants for the cruise ship, Princess Cruisers can ensure that a proper recruitment
advertisement is provided that can help to recruit potential candidates for the future. It has
already been seen that Princess Cruisers provides an excellent opportunity for recruitment of

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talented candidates. The potential it provides for travelling around the world can be
considered as an opportunity to increase the number of support staff in the cruise liner.
At the same time, it is necessary to ensure that the support staff does not only serve
the customers but also take care of other departments in the cruise liner. According to
Véronneau, Roy and Beaulieu (2015), it is necessary that every member of the cruise liner be
well acquainted with the knowledge of performing multiple tasks. Therefore, Princess
Cruisers need to resolve any form of technical glitches by the help from people well equipped
with technology. Apart from this, the second issue that has been seen is that of the political
tension between the countries. This can be considered as an external issue that need to be
resolved only after thorough analysis of the agreement between the concerned countries.
Cruise liners usually need to travel on a lengthy period, therefore, command from
head quarters about news of any political tension need to be provided to the cruise liners so
that they can plot courses based on the information. Therefore, it can be concluded that
despite the issues being grave, Princess Cruisers can implement the solutions provided so that
it can help in addressing the gravity of the situation and ensure smooth sale of the customers
take place.
Second trend: Personalised onboard experience
Issues
As pointed out by Adams (2017) cruise ships normally provide wonderful and
personalised experiences during the time customers are on board. Some of the experiences
include providing opportunities for game time, a theatre space, prayer hall as well as a fair
supply of food and drinks. In this regard it can be said that issues related to the personalised
onboard experiences can occur if any of the items fail to function properly. One of the major
issues that can be experienced onboard the Princess Cruisers is the fact that food offered can

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be perishable or become stale. This is mainly food stored onboard the cargo ship may not be
used always. Therefore, lack of use of food and the continuous change of climate may cause
the food to degrade making it difficult for the customers to consume. This may have a
negative impact on the health of the customers.
Apart from this, one of the most common occurrences that can be experienced is that
of any technical breakdown. As stated by Li and Kwortnik (2017) technological failure can
be caused anytime and this can have a negative impact on the experience of the customers.
Electricity provided by Princess Cruisers can be automatically closed and the cruise ship may
need to shut down during its mid course. This can cause harassment and at the same time
bring about a downfall in the reputation of the cruise ship. Hence, technological or electronic
failure may have a huge negative impact on the Princess Cruisers and the manner in which it
can continue its reputation in the cruise ship industry.
Solution
In order to ensure that the food supply be kept in a continuous manner it is necessary
that food supply be analysed after every trip. As stated by Rankin and Collins (2017) the
solution behind the existence of continuous fresh food is that cruise liners need to identify
proper people that can help in ensuring the freshness of the food. After ever trip the members
of Princess Cruisers need to check the food available and make necessary adjustments so that
the customers are not served with stale food or the cruise ship does not suffer from any
shortage of food.
Apart from this, in the case of the electronic and technological glitches on board the
ship, Princess Cruisers need to check the validity of the electronic supply as well as
understand the factors that may have a negative impact on the technological glitches related
to the experience of the customers. Dragović et al. (2018) is of the opinion that the

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technological glitches can be solved by identifying every possible area within the cruise that
may cause problems. Hence, a proper analysis of the technological as well as the electronic
structuring of Princess Cruisers needs to be done before and after the cruising start (Toudert
and Bringas-Rábago 2016). Hence, with the application of these solutions Princess Cruisers
may possess an opportunity to continue its growth in the industry.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that the emergence of a cruise liner have provided
people with a better view of the world at a cheaper rate. One of the changes that need to be
made in the industry is that of the time required for travel. Despite this the cruise industry is
one of the emerging modes of travelling preferred by the customers. In this regard, it can be
said that Princess Cruises offers excellent services that can be considered as binding success
for the further development of the industry. The type of food and customer satisfactory
service it provides help in the development of the trends in the business.
The change in trends is mainly associated with the luxurious mode of travel and the
manner in which personalised experience is provided to the customers on board the ship.
Several issues such as lack of food storage, technical incompetence, less number of
attendants can be considered as potential issues that may hamper the smooth experience that
the customers expect to have. At the same time, rules of countries always continue to change,
therefore, proper permit for international as well as local water need to be maintained so that
smooth conduct of the travel can take place.

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Reference
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