Skip to main content

Cruise or flight? Does a negative event affect a whole industry?

The travel industry has its days – and events. Do negative events affect a whole industry? For example, did the capsizing of the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia on January 13, 2012, in the Mediterranean Sea subsequently affect cruise travel? And if so, for how long after the event occurred? And are people cautious about flights after major events, such as the May 2010 eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull in which 20 countries closed their air space that stranded about 100,000 travellers? Can a single brand (company) event cause the downturn across the industry?

Harris Interactive Inc., a New York market research firm, recently purchased by Nielsen Holdings in November 2013, conducted research on the effects of the norovirus event on the Carnival Triumph in January 2014 in which more than 600 passengers fell ill – making it one of the biggest outbreaks on any cruise ship in the last 20 years. Soon afterwards the Caribbean Princess, operated by Princess Cruises, shortened its itinerary as the norovirus hit 178 passengers and 11 crew.

The study looked at a range of industry standards. The Harris study revealed that the cruise holiday industry was still affected by the norovirus outbreak on two cruise ships. The standards of quality, trust, and purchase intent showed a significant decline in scores across the whole cruise line industry (for all brands/companies) – quality was down 11% from its pre-virus outbreak survey results; trust was down 12%; and purchase intent was down 13%. Therefore bad press for a couple of brands affects everyone to some level, and could have negative repercussions across the board – but for how long? That is still an unanswered question.


The Harris study also surveyed Americans on their preference for cruises or flights. Americans continue to prefer air travel than cruises – but only just: 59% agreed that air travel was more reliable than cruises, and 54% agreed that air travel was safer (finchannel.com April 14, 2014). It is not stated how many people responded to the survey.

However, 54% said that they were less likely to take a cruise now than they were a year ago. This response was strongest among respondents whom had never taken a cruise in their life (58%) than among those who had taken a cruise before (44%). Almost a third of respondents (32%) said that cruises were “worry-free” (with 50% of those who had taken a cruise saying that they were worry-free and only 23% of those who had not taken a cruise before saying that they were worry-free).

A decline in perception depends on the negative event, how it is handled, what type of industry, and whether there are other options readily available.

The saying that one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch may be true, but, as the study states, “perceptions may flow with the tide.”
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...
1 comment
Read more

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...
1 comment
Read more