Comparing Motivations and Intentions of Potential Cruise Passengers from Different Demographic Groups: The Case of China

The cruise industry is the fastest growing leisure market in the world. As an essential component, the cruise market in China has been growing rapidly over recent years with the introduction of favorable government policies, new cruise terminals, and increased cruise awareness of customers. Unfortunately, only a few studies have investigated the perceptions of Mainland Chinese consumers toward such an industry. Hence, by adopting qualitative and quantitative research methods, this study explores how the motivation and intention of potential cruise consumers differ in terms of their demographic background. Travelers of different ages, incomes, and marital status groups demonstrate varying cruise motivations and intentions. The influences of motivation factors on the cruise intention of consumers were also explored. Both the theoretical and practical contributions of the study were proposed accordingly.