Cruise tourism on the Danube – trends and product development opportunities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14267/TURBULL.2021v21n1.2Keywords:
river cruise tourism, Danube cruise tourism, cultural tourism, literature review, content analysisAbstract
Tourism is shaped by rapidly changing consumer trends. Cruise tourism on the Danube is an emerging part of leisure tourism, but at the same time, to maintain outstanding economic performance in the long run, it is necessary to periodically renew the product portfolio. The following study summarizes the basic characteristics and market (supply-demand) features of Danube cruise tourism by a systematic literature review. The study presents the current (2020-2022) supply of market-leading companies (Tauck, Avalon Waterways, Crystal Cruises, Uniworld River Cruises, Viking River Cruises, Scenic River Cruises) by content analysis. Using qualitative research, 326 travel packages were reviewed, in which the dominant role of cultural tourist attractions was clear. The results confirm that many tourism products (e.g., natural attractions, medical tourism) are missing from the product range. Their addition could improve the economic performance of Danube cruise tourism in the post-recession period by expanding the target group.
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