Cruise Passenger-Oriented Evaluation System for the Public Transport of Hinterland Destinations

Abstract

The cruise ship industry has become the fastest-growing sector of leisure and tourist business. In terms of the daily cruise service, a key part lies in the accessibility to attractive hinterland destinations. From the viewpoints of safety, efficiency, and environmental protection, public transport is considered to be a good option to access hinterland destinations. It requires the design and selection of public transport routes for cruise passengers by evaluating service quality. The existing studies focus on the evaluation of transport service quality incorporating the passenger perspective while there is a lack of studies oriented towards the cruise passengers. In this paper, we aim at setting up a four-layer cruise passenger-oriented evaluation system. Two cruise centers located in Hamburg, Germany, and Qingdao, China are focused. The proposed evaluation system identifies the weights of 21 criteria and the ranking of the transport routes for cruise passengers in different age groups. Considering the berthing time of cruise ships and the commuting time of local residents, the proposed evaluation system also provides suggestions for the one-day tour itinerary of cruise passengers in the hinterland. Moreover, the preferences on transport routes of different-age cruise passengers are disclosed to promote the relevant improvement in public transport infrastructure in specific transport routes. In doing so, this paper aims at supporting the smart city development for port cities.