Understanding cruise passengers’ motivations: The case of Greece

This paper aims to examine cruise passengers’ profile and their motivations for taking a cruise in Greece. The study provides insights into the motivations of 456 tourists traveling to Greece to experience a cruise. This article uses existing literature relevant to tourists’ motivations. The population of the current study consisted of passengers who disembarked in the port of Piraeus after an 8-day cruise in the Aegean Sea. The sample concentrated only on passengers who experienced a cruise in the Aegean Sea and consists of both international and local cruise passengers. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 was used to perform statistical procedures. The findings suggest that motivation dimensions of cruise passengers are structured in three major factors, “culture and tradition”, escape and relaxation” and “enjoyment and shopping”. Also, there is no statistically significant correlation between satisfaction and likelihood of returning, in contrast with the word-of-mouth