IT-Enabled Beer Exchange at the Upper Deck Bar

Cruising, said to be the top growing sector in the tourism industry (cf. worldfirst.co.uk 2009), with an annual rate of growth higher than 7% since 1980 (cf.Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association 2010, p. 6) and bringing along “…thehighest satisfaction rating of any vacation sectors…” (Gulliksen 2008, S. 343), is the emerging tourism segment. Ever since the by then largest cruise liner in the world, the Oasis of the Seas, owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD, was launched in October 2009, the world is astonished by the dimension of cruise ships and the possibilities offered onboard. With all kinds of onboard activities imaginable, starting with 37 bars and restaurants, four pools and all sorts of entertainment and sport facilities including an ice ring and a mini golf course (cf. Adams, 2009), there can be no doubt about the importance of onboard activities and their resulting revenues. As a consequence cruise lines have to manage the problematic area of onboard attractiveness through maintaining a high level of passenger satisfaction and offering state-of-the-art and contemporary products and services in order to maximize onboard revenues. Concerning the aforementioned issues, this paper’s main purpose is to identify ways in which onboard attractiveness can be enhanced, mainly on the basis of information technology (IT) such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems and/or Infotainment solutions through appropriate marketing approaches, applications and new IT solutions. The outline of this paper is constructed as follows. Section 12.2 first offers an overview of the importance of onboard revenues consisting of a brief background of the cruise industry followed by an analysis of Carnival Corporation & PLCs (Carnival) revenue and cost structure. In Chapter 12.3 a basis for boosting onboard attractiveness through IT is established followed by a number of marketing ideas and IT solutions that could help increasing onboard attractiveness and thus revenues. In Chapter 12.4, building upon Chapter 12.3, pros and cons of the aforementioned IT are briefly explained. Chapter 12.5 and 12.6 contain a detached explanation about onboard pricing and how pricing methods could be used in a mutually beneficial way for increasing onboard attractiveness and thus profits, as was outlined in Chapter 12.3. Finally a conclusion is drawn with a future outlook on what cruise lines should expect and keep in mind regarding IT and onboard activities.