engleski

Advantages of Branding in Travel and Tourism, the case of cruise Industry

Branding has become very important in travel and tourism industry. The paper investigates the benefits of branding in cruise industry which is considered to be the most successful and fastest growing sector of the tourism industry during the past 30 years. The marketing of the cruise companies had a key role in the development of cruising and the strong growth in demand. The cruise market has recorded strong growth since 1995. In the period 1995-2007 the number of cruise passengers increased from 5, 72 to 16, 50 millions. Cruise ships are now perceived as a vacation destination. The cruise industry, which is presently characterized by gigantism, and the strong development of business centralization, has assumed an oligopolistic competitive character. Today, on a global scale, four large corporations account for 84, 3% of the total gross tonnage and 83% of the total number of lower berths. Cruise companies have adopted branding to differentiate their products in an increasingly competitive marketplace in order to get a bigger share on both the existing and new generating markets. They followed a trend similar to lodging in adding new brands as a growth strategy. The move toward brand segmentation is another indication of a response to changing passenger needs. Branding is becoming more important as many cruise companies expand the width of their product mixes. The strategy of creating multiple brands enables better market segmentation and offers companies the chance to attract larger shares of specific target markets. The research indicates that an internationally renowned corporate image and multibrand approach help cruise corporations to extend operations worldwide. Today, cruising has become a mass phenomenon, spreading throughout the world.

cruise industry; brand segmentation; corporate image; multibrand approach; global expansion

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