Port Attractiveness Research Articles

Systematic Review of Port Choice Criteria for Evaluating Port Attractiveness Determinants (PART I)

The aim of this systematic literature review is to identify the Port Attractiveness Determinants (PADs) and their attributes. These attributes have been extracted from 87 references published between 1970 and 2022. In addition to the conceptual contribution, this review has added value at the methodological and empirical levels. Split in two parts, Part I of this paper presents the findings about the nine PADs identified in the sample screened, which stem from both bibliometric and content analyses performed using software programs and an in-depth screening performed by four reviewers. Part II of this review details the 116 items measuring the PADs.

Understanding core determinants in LNG bunkering port selection: Policy implications for the maritime industry

This study identifies the core determinants for selecting Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunkering ports from the view of liner shipping companies in South Korea. Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) is applied to understand the holistic formation of interactional relationships among the core decision determinants. The results confirm that the 11 LNG bunkering port selection components indicate interactive contextual characteristics that can be grouped into three categories identified in this study: “components for basic requirements,” “components for port attractiveness (differentiation),” and “core components for LNG bunking port selection.” The three determinants at the top level are recognized as core determinants that may directly influence shipping companies’ decision-making for the LNG bunkering selection individually rather than interactively. The findings obtained from this study can be a good reference for policymakers and ports that need to establish such a good LNG bunkering port strategy by realizing the perspective of shipping companies.

Global Container Port Network Linkages and Topology in 2021.

The maritime transport of containers between ports accounts for the bulk of global trade by weight and value. Transport impedance among ports through transit times and port infrastructures can, however, impact accessibility, trade performance, and the attractiveness of ports. Assessments of the transit routes between ports based on performance and attractiveness criteria can provide a topological liner shipping network that quantifies the performance profile of ports. Here, we constructed a directed global liner shipping network (GLSN) of the top six liner shipping companies between the ports of Africa, Asia, North/South America, Europe, and Oceania. Network linkages and community groupings were quantified through a container port accessibility evaluation model, which quantified the performance of the port using betweenness centrality, the transport impedance among ports with the transit time, and the performance of ports using the Port Liner Shipping Connectivity Index. The in-degree and out-degree of the GLSN conformed to the power-law distribution, respectively, and their R-square fitting accuracy was greater than 0.96. The community partition illustrated an obvious consistence with the actual trading flow. The accessibility evaluation result showed that the ports in Asia and Europe had a higher accessibility than those of other regions. Most of the top 30 ports with the highest accessibility are Asian (17) and European (10) ports. Singapore, Port Klang, and Rotterdam have the highest accessibility. Our research may be helpful for further studies such as species invasion and the planning of ports.

Cruise ship itinerary design considering port attractiveness for passengers

Cruise tourism has been a fast-growing industry and one of the key factors of success in this industry is the ability to create highly seductive itineraries, capable of attracting tourists while maximizing the total profit for the cruise shipping company. Itineraries must be carefully selected, combining a maximization of the total attraction value of the itinerary, given by the destinations and attractions included, with the minimization of the total cost of the itinerary. The objective of this paper is to develop a mixed integer programming optimization model to find optimum cruise ship itineraries. The model presented in this paper calculates cost and revenue of the itinerary separately, using a cost structure based on the cruise ship's size and the duration of the itinerary, and a revenue structure based on the month of the year and the selected ports attractiveness. An application is made to evaluate possible new optimal cruise itineraries along the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco. The results confirm that an increased profit is possible during the Summer season and show clear opportunities for new cruise itineraries in this region, calling ports which are not currently involved in cruising activities, but which present advantages for cruise itinerary design as transit ports or suitable gateways for major attractions.

A port attractiveness assessment framework: Chittagong Port’s attractiveness from the users’ perspective

This study evaluates the attractiveness of the Chittagong Port of Bangladesh from the port users’ perspective. Existing maritime literature is focused on major ports of Europe, East Asia and North America, but many secondary ports of the mainline maritime network, which play a crucial role in their countries, are overlooked. Chittagong Port is such a port having an enormous impact on the economy of Bangladesh. The perceived attractiveness of this port to its users is assessed in this study based on six factors: port connectivity, facilities, costs, service quality, policy and management, and green port management practices. Data are collected on a 7-point Likert scale for 25 measurement items, and the port attractiveness measurement model is validated using Confirmatory Composite Analysis (CCA). The results indicate that the port users’ find the port’s connectivity most attractive and green port management practices least attractive. We also observe that port users with a high frequency of port usage find Chittagong Port less attractive compared to less frequent users. These findings have significant policy implications for the port authority and policymakers to enhance the port’s attractiveness, which is in a monopolistic position handling more than 90% of international trade for Bangladesh. Further, a validation of the port attractiveness assessment framework enables researchers and practitioners to use it as a standard instrument for assessing the attractiveness of ports having similar characteristics globally.

Increasing the attractiveness of a cruise port for cargo business: The contribution of stakeholders

Cruise and cargo operations, though distinct seaport activities, have sufficiently similar functions that by accommodating cargo business in a largely cruise domain, a port may achieve increased attractiveness and better resource utilization. We sought to conceptualize a framework by which an existing cruise port can integrate divergent stakeholder interests to achieve port attractiveness under this duality. We adopted a qualitative approach involving in-depth interviews with experts representing the port authority and key stakeholders at Port Canaveral, the second busiest multi-day cruise embarkation port in the world. We identified a supply chain integration model as a pathway to increasing port attractiveness; with the port authority promoting a shared identity and enabling supply chain flows, while stakeholders nurture unique competencies. Our resulting decision framework comprises short- and long-term strategic combinations of attractiveness factors to derive the full benefits of location, connectivity, cooperation and market positioning. Thus, we specify essential areas for improving a port’s overall attractiveness in the context of mastering this relatively innovative dual business model.

Port Cooperation and Bundling: A Way to Reduce the External Costs of Hinterland Transport

The present paper studies the bundling of road cargo flows of neighbouring seaports to a common hinterland. In specific cases, some hinterland flows can be too small to make bundling in a sufficient frequency possible. By combining the road freight flows of neighbouring ports, this problem can be solved. However, the additional cost of bundling and the loss of time need to be compensated for by a lower transport cost. The paper presents an empirical model for the 104 core Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) ports of the European Union (EU) and their 271 NUTS2 (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) hinterland regions that allows identifying opportunities for bundling as well as the direct and external cost effects. By including the value of time (VOT) of each transport mode, the generalised cost is also calculated. The result is a business model that helps port authorities, and other port actors, to identify bundling projects that will lower the direct, generalised and external costs of the hinterland connectivity, thus increasing the port attractiveness for port users as well as lowering potential aversion by the surrounding community to port operations that create hinterland nuisance.

A two-dimensional approach to assessing the impact of port selection factors on port competitiveness using the Kano model

In the global supply chain, a seaport, as an important part of the intermodal network, plays a pivotal role in linking exporters and importers. In this context, carriers and shippers are no longer selecting a port per se, but rather looking at it as an integral part of the supply chain. That is to say, port users may no longer measure port attractiveness solely by traditional attributes such as port infrastructure, geographical features, prices, and services. Instead, they may place more value on a port’s ability to add value to the global supply chain process and its adaptability to changing business environments. Considering this port paradigm shift with growing complexity, this paper proposes a Kano model to identify multidimensional, nonlinear port selection attributes, including intermodal network accessibility and service route diversity. Such identification will help port service providers, such as port authorities and terminal operating companies, develop wise port marketing and investment strategies. To validate the rigor and usefulness of our model, we experiment with survey data collected from the users of three major hub ports—Busan, Incheon, and Gwangyang in Korea—serving the Asia–Pacific market.

Evaluating determinants of attractiveness and their cause-effect relationships for container ports in Taiwan: users’ perspectives

ABSTRACTThe attractiveness of ports is usually a pre-requisite and necessary condition for ports to achieve competitiveness, as well as the springboard to explore the competitive advantages of ports. To determine whether a port is competitive, it is necessary to explore whether it boasts certain factors that make the port attractive to users. The main purpose of this article is to apply the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) technique to evaluate key determinants of attractiveness and their cause/effect relationships for container ports in Taiwan. The empirical results showed that: (1) Top six determinates of attractiveness for container ports are ‘ample cargo sources,’ ‘favorable port charges,’ ‘dense ship network and routes,’ ‘low transshipment costs,’ ‘efficient wharf operations,’ and ‘adequate wharfs and back-line land,’ respectively. (2) Among the above six determinants of attractiveness, ‘ample cargo sources’ is the cause determinant. Three determinants of port attractiveness, ‘favorable port charges,’ ‘dense ship network and routes,’ ‘low transshipment costs,’ which are the effect determinants. They are affected by the determinants of attractiveness of ‘ample cargo sources’. In addition, this study discusses the above findings and expects to provide the study results to Taiwan’s port authorities for reference.

Perceived Crowding and Tourism: Promotion and Prevention Reactions

This article addresses how perceived crowding impact expectations of tourists in Norway. A survey is used to collect data from more them 900 respondents. The project includes the development of a model capturing antecedents of cruise port attractiveness in a crowding context. We measure destination acceptability in terms of promotion vs. prevention reactions towards levels of crowding at the destination. Structural equation modelling reveal that the promotion and prevention reaction is negatively and positively influencing crowding and destination expectation. However, the promotion and prevention reaction influence destination acceptability somewhat differently and with varying intensities.

The role of the degree of use of the facilities in the port choice process: the Spanish dockside cranes case

The aim of this study is to analyse how the degree of use of port facilities influences the port choice process. In order to achieve that goal, a multinomial logit model was firstly proposed and then applied to a case study. In this particular case, the relationship between the container traffic and the availability of cranes was considered for the main Spanish peninsular container ports. From the obtained results, it can be concluded that the port throughput contributes positively to attract traffic because of the economies of agglomeration and the scale and network effects achieved; however, there is a threshold of traffic beyond which the attractiveness of ports decreases. The proposed methodological approach also allows to obtain the functional form of the analysed relationship without establishing it a priori.

The role of the degree of use of the facilities in the port choice process: the Spanish dockside cranes case

The aim of this study is to analyse how the degree of use of port facilities influences the port choice process. In order to achieve that goal, a multinomial logit model was firstly proposed and then applied to a case study. In this particular case, the relationship between the container traffic and the availability of cranes was considered for the main Spanish peninsular container ports. From the obtained results, it can be concluded that the port throughput contributes positively to attract traffic because of the economies of agglomeration and the scale and network effects achieved; however, there is a threshold of traffic beyond which the attractiveness of ports decreases. The proposed methodological approach also allows to obtain the functional form of the analysed relationship without establishing it a priori.

Processing Time Ambiguity and Port Competitiveness

Container seaports play an important role in cross‐border logistics as firms increasingly expand their global footprint in sourcing, manufacturing and distribution. Besides convenience of access to hinterland regions, a key metric for a port's attractiveness is its processing time, that is, its ability to clear goods within a consistent, predictable time frame. Due to differences in infrastructure, government regulations, and operating procedures, ports may exhibit different degrees of predictability in processing times: some are more predictable while others are more ambiguous. We study how ambiguity in processing times affects a port's attractiveness under various circumstances. We find that even if a port maintains a consistent expected processing time, increased ambiguity can still affect its attractiveness to firms, although not always negatively. The effect of ambiguity depends on its nature, whether the shipments are time‐sensitive, attitudes toward ambiguity, and trade terms surrounding shipments.

The Attractiveness of Ports in West Africa: Some Lessons from Shipping Lines' Port Selection

AbstractThis paper investigates the attractiveness of ports in West Africa through the development of a container shipping lines' port choice methodology. Although many multi‐criteria decision‐making methods have been developed and applied to facilitate a rational port choice process, few have investigated the criteria used by shipping lines when selecting ports in West Africa. With the rapid economic development of West Africa, the task of establishing a rational model to guide shipping lines to choose their favourite ports in the region becomes urgent. In this work, 16 criteria are identified to assist shipping lines in port choice from four perspectives including adequate infrastructure, port location, port charge, and port administration/port efficiency. In order to quantitatively evaluate these criteria, an analytical hierarchy process approach is used to make use of subjective judgements to compensate the incompleteness of objective data. One of the important findings from this study is that port infrastructure is the most crucial criterion in terms of the port attractiveness in West Africa. It is followed by port draught, political stability, market size/cargo volume, and international networks. The research outcomes also indicate that the port of Abidjan is the most attractive container port in West Africa, followed by Dakar when all the identified important criteria are taken into account.

The container transport system: Selection criteria and business attractiveness for North-European ports

In the modern global business environment, port policymakers must continuously make an effort to understand what factors influence port users’ choice of port. This article identifies which factors affect port selection most strongly. It does so for three ports: Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hamburg – and three types of decision makers: shippers, carriers and freight forwarders. The Analytical Hierarchy Process method is applied to gauge port players’ prioritization of decision factors in port selection. Data are collected by means of two sets of questionnaire surveys. The prioritized criteria differ between the three mentioned respondent groups, which is attributed to their respective positions and responsibilities within the supply chain, and the contract of carriage concerned (carrier haulage or merchant haulage). The overall results yield the following ranking of port selection criteria in decreasing order of importance: port costs, geographical location, quality of hinterland connections, productivity and capacity. In respect of general port attractiveness, Antwerp is found to be the most attractive, followed by Rotterdam in second place, and Hamburg in third.

How to Forecast Cruise Ship Arrivals for a New Port-of-Call Destination

The cruise industry in recent years has experienced significant growth and has become one of the most dynamic segments of the transportation and tourism sector. Related research is mainly market oriented and focuses on operations and revenue optimization management; ports are addressed mainly in the context of revenues generated by a cruise ship visit. Trends are in favor of new and diversified itineraries, and opportunities are being sought for several unvisited ports to become new destinations for the cruise market. A methodology was proposed for estimating the number of cruise ship visits that could be attracted to a port aiming at becoming a destination of existing cruise line connections within the wider geographical area. The proposed framework estimated a cruise attractiveness index as a measure of a port's attractiveness for becoming a port of call. The framework then identified three scenarios under which the port could be integrated into the cruise line network. The result was a forecast of future cruise ship arrivals at the port. The methodology was applied to the Adriatic and Ionian Seas of the Mediterranean region, major cruise destinations. The cruise industry can use this decision-making tool to expand its destinations, and port authorities and other local agents can use it to attract tourism capital.

Port Selection Factors and Attractiveness: The Service Providers' Perspective

AbstractThis article investigates the major attributes in determining port attractiveness from the perspective of service providers. This was accomplished by conducting a questionnaire survey of ports located in Asian and Latin American countries. In comparing the present survey results with those of earlier surveys of service users (that is, shipping lines) by Ng (2006), special attention was paid to whether the perceptions of service providers and users conflicted with each other. This article provides constructive insight on port attractiveness, and offers a foundation for further research on port attractiveness and competition.

Characteristics of Cruise Ship Tourism and Evaluation of Port Attractiveness

Characteristics of Cruise Ship Tourism and Evaluation of Port Attractiveness

Assessing the Attractiveness of Ports in the North European Container Transhipment Market: An Agenda for Future Research in Port Competition

Persistent development in global trade has significantly increased the demand for liner shipping, of which the industry is now being characterised by larger vessel size, comprehensive geographical coverage and frequent restructuring of shipping lines like transhipment. In turn, this has led to tense port competition, and port attractiveness is playing a pivotal role in this aspect. Understanding this and using container transhipment as a case study, this paper investigates the attractiveness of the major ports in Northern Europe acting as transhipment hubs. Through a Likert-style questionnaire directed towards the top 30 shipping lines, it was found that Hamburg and Rotterdam are the most attractive options acting as transhipment hubs within Northern Europe, with Antwerp and Bremerhaven closely behind. Felixstowe and Le Havre are the least attractive options requiring substantial improvements to change the current situation. In general, the opinion of shipping lines in port attractiveness seems to be in accordance to their decisions on transhipment hub choices. It is believed that this paper can shed some light on the attractiveness of major North European ports and the methodology of assessing port attractiveness, as well as providing a springboard for further research related to port competition.

Do Static Gains from Trade Lead to Medium-Run Growth?

Previous articleNext article No AccessCommentDo Static Gains from Trade Lead to Medium-Run Growth?Joy MazumdarJoy Mazumdar Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Political Economy Volume 104, Number 6Dec., 1996 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/262062 Views: 15Total views on this site Citations: 24Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1996 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Haiyan Luo, Xiaoe Qu Export Trade, Absorptive Capacity, and High-Quality Economic Development in China, Systems 11, no.22 (Jan 2023): 54.https://doi.org/10.3390/systems11020054Mateo Hoyos Did the trade liberalization of the 1990s really boost economic growth? a critical replication of Estevadeordal and Taylor (2013), Empirical Economics 63, no.11 (Sep 2021): 525–548.https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-021-02139-8Li Xin, Yimin Wang Towards a green world: the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on the carbon intensity reduction of countries along the route, Environmental Science and Pollution Research 29, no.1919 (Jan 2022): 28510–28526.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17575-3Yu Pan, Li Ma, Yanzhen Wang How and what kind of cities benefit from the development of digital inclusive finance? Evidence from the upgrading of export in Chinese cities, Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja 22 (Dec 2021): 1–29.https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2021.2007414Carlos A. Carrasco, Edgar Demetrio Tovar-García Trade and growth in developing countries: the role of export composition, import composition and export diversification, Economic Change and Restructuring 54, no.44 (Aug 2020): 919–941.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10644-020-09291-8Goran Milovanović, Sandra Milanović, Goran Radisavljević Structural Changes in Foreign Trade as a Factor of Competitiveness of the Republic of Serbia, Economic Themes 58, no.22 (Jul 2020): 149–170.https://doi.org/10.2478/ethemes-2020-0009Farha Fatema, Mohammad Monirul Islam, M. Shahidul Islam Does Sectoral Composition of Trade Matter for Trade-Energy-Growth Nexus? A VAR/VEC Based Analysis for China in the Presence of Structural Change, The Chinese Economy 53, no.11 (Sep 2019): 1–24.https://doi.org/10.1080/10971475.2019.1617933Tsuyoshi Shinozaki, Makoto Tawada, Mitsuyoshi Yanagihara International trade and capital accumulation in an overlapping generations model with a public intermediate good, Review of International Economics 27, no.33 (Mar 2019): 765–785.https://doi.org/10.1111/roie.12396Francesca Romana Medda, Francesco Caravelli, Simone Caschili, Alan Wilson Port Attractiveness, (Apr 2017): 53–64.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47039-9_5Paul Tae-Woo Lee, Jasmine Siu Lee Lam Developing the Fifth Generation Ports Model, (Jan 2016): 186–210.https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137514295_8Haizhen Yang, Wenping Zhao Research on the Influence of Foreign Trade on Upgrading of Industrial Structure in Shaanxi Province —Empirical Analysis Based on New Silk Road Economic Belt, Open Journal of Business and Management 04, no.0303 (Jan 2016): 528–534.https://doi.org/10.4236/ojbm.2016.43057Alan V. Deardorff Growth or decline of comparative advantage, Journal of Macroeconomics 38 (Dec 2013): 12–18.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmacro.2013.08.020Antoni Estevadeordal, Alan M. Taylor Is the Washington Consensus Dead? Growth, Openness, and the Great Liberalization, 1970s–2000s, Review of Economics and Statistics 95, no.55 (Dec 2013): 1669–1690.https://doi.org/10.1162/REST_a_00358Kozo Kiyota Trade liberalization, economic growth, and income distribution in a multiple-cone neoclassical growth model, Oxford Economic Papers 64, no.44 (Feb 2012): 655–674.https://doi.org/10.1093/oep/gps002Hiroaki Sasaki TRADE, NON-SCALE GROWTH AND UNEVEN DEVELOPMENT, Metroeconomica 62, no.44 (Aug 2011): 691–711.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-999X.2011.04135.xMina Baliamoune-Lutz Growth by Destination (Where You Export Matters): Trade with China and Growth in African Countries*, African Development Review 23, no.22 (Jun 2011): 202–218.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8268.2011.00281.xJuan Felipe Mejía Export Diversification, International Trade, and Economic Growth: A Survey of the Literature, (May 2011): 9–47.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2742-2_2Mina Baliamoune-Lutz Growth by Destination (Where You Export Matters): Trade with China and Growth in African Countries, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2010).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1680310Diery Seck An Analytical Framework for the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Journal of African Development 9, no.11 (Apr 2007): 105–134.https://doi.org/10.5325/jafrideve.9.1.0105Ricardo A. Lopez Trade and Growth: Reconciling the Macroeconomic and Microeconomic Evidence, Journal of Economic Surveys 19, no.44 (Sep 2005): 623–648.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0950-0804.2005.00264.xNazrul Islam What have We Learnt from the Convergence Debate?, Journal of Economic Surveys 17, no.33 (Jul 2003): 309–362.https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6419.00197Joshua J. Lewer INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMPOSITION AND MEDIUM-RUN GROWTH: Evidence of a Causal Relationship, The International Trade Journal 16, no.33 (Aug 2002): 295–317.https://doi.org/10.1080/08853900290090809L. Alan Winters Post-Lomé Trading Arrangements: The Multilateral Alternative, (Jan 2001): 221–259.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1643-9_10Dirk Willenbockel Growth effects of anticipated trade liberalization and the Baldwin multiplier, Economics Letters 59, no.22 (May 1998): 231–235.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-1765(98)00039-1