Daniela Gračan

The segmentation of the demand for ferry travel – a case study of Stena Line

Abstract In an era of fierce competitive struggle about clients, enterprises seek information on characteristics of the main customer segments purchasing their services and goods. This knowledge is crucial to the marketing efforts of enterprises. The purpose of this research is to understand the changes in demand due to the diversity of travel motives. The study identifies distinct segments of travellers due to their motives of ferry travel, i.e., tourism, visiting relatives, work-/business-related and also three other segments with a mixture of these motives. It is also shown that each of these segments has a different profile in terms of their behavioural and socio-demographic characteristics. This article presents the results of surveys carried out among passengers travelling by Stena Line ferries on the route from Gdynia (Poland) to Karlskrona (Sweden), as well as the results of a literature review and ‘desk research’ of available statistics. The method of realisation of representative study can be useful for other researchers and the results of the study can be an interesting source of information both for ferry carriers and other entities in the tourist sector in the Baltic Sea region.

A Comparison of the Competitiveness of the Two Coastal Tourist Destinations

The main goal of this paper is to assess the competitiveness of the two coastal tourist (micro) destinations - Portorož, Slovenia and Opatija, Croatia. The paper focuses on the current state of competitiveness of these two destinations, assessed by group of senior tourist students that visited both destinations. The approach and methodology are based on the different destination competitiveness models. For the purpose of the assessment of competitiveness of these two micro destinations, the integrated instrument of the destination competitiveness was developed and tested for its face validity. These two destinations were chosen because they have a similar history of development as well as tourist offer. The research results confirm the main hypothesis and majority of supporting hypothesis that Portoroz is more competitive destination than Opatija.