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.”