Cruise tourism in Messina: a study on the perception of services

Cruise tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of global tourism and it represents one of the more important factor of local economies, particularly in a city such as Messina. The aim of this study is to identify the types of cruise passenger who visit Messina, and determine the main social and environmental variables that influence their levels of satisfaction. The data was obtained from a “Vacanze Messinesi” survey; the cruise tourists were randomly selected and interviewed. The interviews were carried out at the Messina cruise terminal at the end of the city tour. The results show that most of the tourists visiting Messina showed relatively high levels of satisfaction, but the satisfaction level was influenced by perceived value which seems to be a dimension of strategic importance as a mediator of the effects on the perception of quality satisfaction.