1. Article Title Page
Cruise Passengers’ Satisfaction: Cartagena de Indias
Author Details
Author 1 Name: Juan Gabriel Brida
Department: School of Economics & Management
University/Institution: Free University of Bolzano
Town/City: Bolzano
Country: Italy
Author 2 Name: Nicolás Garrido
Department: Departamento de Economía
University/Institution: Universidad Católica del Norte
Town/City: Antofagasta
Country: Chile
Author 3 Name: María Jesús Such Devesa
Department: Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales
University/Institution: Universidad de Alcalá
Town/City: Madrid
Country: Spain
Corresponding author: María Jesús Such Devesa
Corresponding Author’s Email: mjesus.such@uah.es
Acknowledgments (if applicable): n/a
Biographical Details (if applicable): Juan Gabriel Brida, PhD in Economics, he teaches Mathematics and Tourism Economics.
His research interests include Tourism Economics and Growth Economics.
Nicolás Garrido, PhD in Economics, he teaches Economics. His research interests are Tourism Economics and Regional
Economics.
María Jesús Such Devesa, PhD in Economics, she teaches Applied Economics and her researches focus on Tourism Economics.
Structured Abstract: Purpose - This paper aims to explain the onshore satisfaction of cruise passengers in the port of call of
Cartagena de Indias using a questionnaire given to 1,361 passengers of 28 cruise ships during October and November of 2009.
Design/methodology/approach - Factor analysis and cluster analysis.
Findings - The results suggest that although visitors held a high overall satisfaction of the onshore experience, there are two
dimensions that require the attention of tourist policy makers: the city infrastructure (traffic, noise, cleanliness and infrastructure) and
the general shopping experience. In particular, the worst experience seems to be related to street vendors. Moreover, there is
evidence that tourists from the United States of America are more exigent of being fully satisfied.
Research limitations/implications - The survey contained was only conducted in the months of October and November. Future
research can also include the repetition of the study in different seasons and compare with our results. The study shows that there is
a good potential for the growth of tourism activity of the destination because over 52% of the participants declared their intention of
return to the city as land tourists and more than 60% will recommend the destination to their friends.
Originality/value - The application of known methodologies to an emergent destination in which many stakeholders are involved
and concerned about cruise tourism evolution and its effects on the destination.
Keywords: Customer services quality, Tourism management
Article Classification: Case study
For internal production use only
Running Heads:

2. Cruise Passengers’ Satisfaction: Cartagena de Indias
1. Introduction
The cruise tourism industry has been the fastest growing segment of the global travel
sector, with an average annual growth rate of passengers of 7.4% for the period of 1990-2007
(see Brida and Zapata (2010), Dowling (2006) and Cruise Lines International Association
(2010)). This growth in cruise tourism is expected to continue into the future, as only a small
proportion of the population that has the resources to take a cruise have done so (Chase and
McKee, 2003). Nevertheless, this fact is a changing reality. This form of tourism accounts for
only about 2% of the worldwide total leisure tourists, but the numbers have been increasing
rapidly: from about 4 million people who took a cruise vacation in 1990 to more than 14
million in 2009 (Brida and Zapata, 2010). Cruises represent the following paradigms of
globalization: physical mobility, international capital that can be relocated anywhere and at
any time, crews coming from different countries in the same ship, no national or international
regulations and marine registrations that are optimally selected. A cruise ship can be
considered a destination itself. It represents all four facets of the tourism industry:
transportation, accommodation (including food and beverages), attractions and tour
operators. Thirteen million people took a cruise in 2008, with the industry predicting that more
than 30 million people will do so in 2015 (Cruise Lines International Association, 2010). Cruise
tourism can benefit a destination by increasing or improving foreign exchange earnings, profit
and taxes, employment, positive externalities and economies of scale (Dwyer and Forsyth,
1998). From another point of view, cruise tourism requires less infrastructure compared to
stopover tourism at a tourist destination (McKee, 1998).
The rapid expansion of the cruise industry has produced considerable research interest
over the last decade. This research considers several studies on cruise passengers’
segmentation, motivation, satisfaction and behavior related to the cruise tourism experience
but not studies on destinations (Clancy (2008); Diedrich (2010); Duman and Mattila (2005);
Henderson (2009); Ikeda and Jaswar (2002); Johansson and Naslund (2009); Kwortnik (2006
and 2008); Macpherson (2008); McCarthy (2003); Lemmetyinen and Go (2010); Li and Petrick
(2008 and 2010); Lobo (2009); Miller and Grazer (2002 and 2003); Park and Petrick (2009);
Petrick (2003, 2004a, 2004b, 2005); Petrick and Sirakaya (2004); Petrick and Li (2006); Petrick
et al. (2006, 2007); Pratt and Blake (2009), Teye and Leclerc (2002); Vogel (2009); Weaver
(2005); Yarnal and Kerstetter (2005)). There are fewer studies on cruise passengers’
satisfaction with a visit to a particular destination, the intentions of a cruise passenger of
returning to a port of call as a land tourist or the different impacts of cruise tourism in a
particular destination (Andriotis and Agiomirgianakis (2010); Braun et al (2002); Dwyer et al.
(2004); Chase and McKee (2003); Gabe et al. (2006); Hannarong et al. (2006); Hosany and
Witham (2010) Seidl et al. (2006, 2007)).
The research on tourist satisfaction in the cruise industry is analyzed in two different
and complementary contexts: tourist satisfaction on board and tourist satisfaction in a port of
call. Most of the published work has been focused on the former area of research, in which
social interaction, spatial distribution and services are well defined. For instance, Kwortnik
(2006 and 2008) explored how the leisure cruise service environment, the “shipscape”, affects
the cruiser’s emotions and onboard behavior. The author showed that the service
environment is fundamental for the onboard satisfaction of customers. Yarnal and Kerstetter
(2005) analyzed how social interaction in a group vacation in a cruise ship space might create
more meaningful passenger experiences. The authors made suggestions about making playful

3. spaces on the cruise ship to enhance customer satisfaction. In this line, Duman and Mattila
(2005) proposed that consumers’ affective responses are directly related to perceived value in
highly experiential service settings, such as cruising. Petrick (2003, 2004a, 2004b, 2005),
Petrick and Li (2006) and Petrick et al. (2006, 2007) showed, using structural equations and
other techniques, that the SERV-PERVAL factors of perceived quality, emotional response,
monetary price, behavioral price and reputation are related to cruise passengers' post-cruise
cognitive assessments of perceived value, satisfaction, and intentions to repurchase. The work
done by Hosany and Witham (2010) identified the underlying dimensions of cruisers’
experiences and their relationships with cruisers’ satisfaction and intention to recommend. For
instance, they found that females value entertainment, esthetics and escapism more than
males, and young guests (30 and younger), compared to the other age segments, find
entertainment as the most important dimension. Moreover, the authors concluded that
overall, cruisers expect a fun, relaxing get-away experience with plenty of excitement. These
results can be used by cruise management to understand the diverse nature of cruisers’
experiences and create a more tailored environment.
Tourist satisfaction in a port of embarkation, disembarkation or a port of call has
received less attention than cruise passengers’ satisfaction. Andriotis and Agiomirgianakis
(2010) studied cruise ship passengers’ motivation, satisfaction and likelihood of return to the
port of Heraklion in Greece. They employed a self-completed questionnaire with Likert-type
scale questions to analyze motivation and satisfaction. The highest satisfaction was expressed
for the feeling of personal safety and security, followed by the friendliness of local residents
and attitude of local shopkeepers and staff. On the other extreme, the lowest satisfaction was
expressed about the time available on the island. Gabe et al. (2006) analyzed 568 surveys filled
out by ship passengers that visited Bar Harbor in 2002 and concluded that respondents’ place
of residence in relation to the port has a negative effect on the likelihood of return. Moreover,
time available in the port was also expressed as being correlated with tourist satisfaction.
In the present study, we investigate the satisfaction of cruise passengers with their
visit to Cartagena de Indias to identify the main factors influencing their experience at the
destination. We describe different aspects of the experience of the cruise passengers at the
destination to understand the levels of satisfaction considering various factors.
In addition to the economic impact, cruise activity can provide a destination with an
additional benefit of showcasing the touristic attractions to thousands of people who may
return as independent land tourists. In fact, this argument is generally used by policy makers
to give incentives to the cruise lines in order to be a port of call of their routes. During the visit
to a cruise destination, passengers have the opportunity to experience the attractions of the
area, and the level of the passengers’ satisfaction with the visit may influence the likelihood of
a return visit. This possibility indicates that it is necessary for administrators and officials at
cruise destinations to study onshore satisfaction of cruise passengers visiting the destination.
Destination managers, local governments and policy makers in Cartagena de Indias can profit
from this information by formulating private and public development and marketing strategies
for cruise tourism. Satisfied tourists are more likely to return to the same destination and are
more willing to share their positive traveling experience with their friends and relatives. This
finding is supported by empirical evidence (Alegre and Cladera, 2006, Juaneda, 1996; Lau and
McKercher, 2004; Kozak, 2001 and 2002; Petrick, 2004a; Yoon and Uysal, 2005).
The purpose of this paper is to examine the different factors affecting a cruise ship
passenger’s satisfaction of his or her visit to Cartagena de Indias. The empirical analysis is
based on data from passenger surveys conducted during the second semester of 2009. The
sample of the survey consists of 1,361 cruise passengers interviewed before their return to the

4. cruise ship. In the survey, information was requested on the tourists’ socio-demographic
characteristics, expenditure levels and satisfaction levels. The questionnaire included the
following items: number of hours on land, quality of the port services, tourist attractions (such
as leisure parks), quality of transportation, cleanliness and hygiene, the presence of friends
and/or relatives on the cruise, familiarity with the destination, safety, tranquility, prices,
general satisfaction with the visit and amount of the expenditures in tours, cultural activities,
tourist attractions, souvenirs, medical costs, transportation and restaurants.
This paper is organized as follows. In section 2, we present an overview of the cruise
industry in Cartagena de Indias and descriptive statistics of the main characteristics of cruise
passengers arriving in this country. Section 3 provides a description of the data and
methodologies, and in the subsequent section we present the empirical results. Conclusions
are summarized in the final section.
2. The cruise activity in Cartagena de Indias
The excellent natural conditions of Cartagena de Indias have led to an increase in
cruise activity in the tourism industry. However, little is known about cruise tourism
development at this destination. Cruise passengers are excursionists arriving at Cartagena de
Indias on board the ship and returning to the ship each night to sleep on board. As they do not
strictly spend the night in an accommodation structure in the country, they are not included in
the category of tourists. Cruise tourism constitutes an increasing share of all tourism visits to
the country, accounting for approximately one in five tourist arrivals in 2009. On average, the
time that an overnight tourist remains at the destination is approximately five days, whereas
that of a cruise passenger is less than five hours. Cruise ships first arrived in the country in the
1990s. According to data provided by the Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Cartagena, 246,951
cruise passengers arrived aboard cruise ships during the 2008/2009 cruise year (that is, the
twelve months beginning in May 2008 and ending in April 2009). These passengers included
242,144 in-transit passengers and 4,807 passengers embarking on their cruises in Cartagena de
Indias. Of the in-transit passengers, an estimated 205,822 passengers (85% percent)
disembarked and visited Cartagena de Indias. Table 1 shows the number of arrivals during the
period from 1998-2009. Note that during the period from 2001-2007, there was a decline in
activity because the corporations Royal Caribbean International and Carnival Cruise Lines
decided to retire their ships as a consequence of the U.S. recession and potential effects of the
9/11 terrorist attacks.
INSERT TABLE 1 NEAR HERE
Only in 2009 did the quantity of cruise ships (168) arriving in Cartagena exceed the
number reached in 1998 (161), but the number of cruise passengers presently arriving at the
destination (about 270,000) has almost doubled the number in 1991.
Three cruise lines hold an increasingly large market share of the cruise tourism industry in
Cartagena de Indias, accounting for more than 60% of all cruise ship passengers in 2009:
Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean International and Star Cruises. Note that this degree of
market power could provide particular negotiation challenges to current and potential port
communities. Cruise tourism visitation in Cartagena de Indias is strongly seasonal, with more
than 98% of all arrivals occurring during the October–April period (Table 2). The arrivals of land
tourists to Cartagena de Indias have two peaks, one in the period of December-January and
the other in June-August. As a result, cruise tourists only produce crowding effects on tourist
experiences during the winter season.

5. INSERT TABLE 2 NEAR HERE
The majority of cruises having Cartagena de Indias as a port of call last from four to
seven days and include up to five port stops. The fact that most cruise ships stay around five
hours means that cruise passengers can only participate in a limited number of activities.
When cruise passengers arrive at the port, they can stay on board, join a guided excursion or
tour, explore the city on their own or hire a taxi for sightseeing. The most popular sites for
cruisers in Cartagena de Indias are the Old City, the San Felipe castle, the Pierino Gallo
shopping area and the Heredia theater.
3. Data and methodology
Given the scarcity of data on the expenditure behavior of cruise visitors in Cartagena
de Indias, the Ministry of Tourism of Colombia decided to conduct this study. On the bases of
literature review and discussions with principal agents of the cruise industry in the city
(including port managers, tour operators and local and national government tourism offices), a
questionnaire was designed. The questionnaire was given to onshore visitors before their
return to the cruise ship during October and November of 2009. The questionnaire was
administered by previously trained assistants. The questionnaire comprised 23 questions,
which can be arranged in four sections (see Appendix 1). The first section collects demographic
information, such as age, marital status, education level and nationality. The second section
asked respondents to give information about the trip, such as their main reason for choosing
it, how they paid for the cruise trip and previous cruise experiences. The third section
contained questions about the visitors’ expenditure behavior: how much had the visitor spent
on board per day, the number of hours spent out of the port in Cartagena de Indias, and the
amount of purchases made during the onshore time in 10 categories. Finally, in the fourth
section, tourists were asked to indicate their satisfaction with the port of call on a 20-item,
five-point Likert-type scale ranging from “very dissatisfied” to “very satisfied.” The
questionnaire was translated into two languages: Spanish and English.
The population of this study consisted of passengers and crew older than age 18 who
disembarked from cruise ships arriving to the city of Cartagena de Indias between September
27 and November 14 of 2009. During this period, 28 cruise ships arrived at the port, with a
total of 42,936 passengers (see Appendix 2). The questionnaire was asked of 1,451 visitors, but
as a consequence of revisions to the results, only 1,361 valid questionnaires were left. The
questionnaire was taken just minutes before the visitors returned to the cruise ship.
A number of statistical techniques were applied to the data. First, descriptive statistics
(including frequency distributions, means, standard deviations, medians and frequency
distributions) were computed to have a first look at the profile of cruise ship passengers (see
Table 3).
INSERT TABLE 3 NEAR HERE
The sample consisted of 51.3% male and 48.7% female respondents. More than 65% of
respondents were North Americans, 16.7% were Venezuelans, and about 9% were Europeans.
About 76% of cruise tourists traveling to Cartagena de Indias were married, and more than
62% were 56 years old or older. Cruise tourists visiting Cartagena de Indias had a medium/high
education level and were experienced as cruise tourists. Cruise ships are in Cartagena de Indias
for an average of 6 hours per visit. Because their visit is so brief, the majority of cruise tourist
expenditures come from tours, local transportation, food and beverage, jewelry, souvenirs and

6. handicrafts. The length of time a visitor spent shopping in the local markets had a substantial
impact on the amount of money he or she spent. The number of hours that the visitor stayed
on shore was positively correlated with dollars spent, indicating that respondents who spent
little time in the market spent little, if any, money. This correlation gives support to long-held
local beliefs that the visitors are not going to buy if they do not set foot in the shops, and the
longer the visitors are kept occupied in the shops, the more they will spend. Consistent with
other destinations (see Seidl et al., 2006 and 2007; Braun et al., 2002 and Douglas and Douglas,
2004), some 90% of passengers disembarked, and 10% remained on board. Approximately
64.5% of those who chose to disembark pre-purchased local tours; the remaining 35.5% did
not purchase tours.
4. Data analysis
In the questionnaire, there were 20 Likert-type questions exploring the visitors’
satisfaction of the onshore experience. The questions accepted five possible answers ranging
from “very dissatisfied” to “very satisfied” on topics as diverse as available infrastructure,
information, relationship with locals, transport system, prices and weather. Taking the mean of
the answers as a simple indicator of satisfaction, we found that the tourists in the sample held
high overall satisfaction of the onshore experience in Cartagena de Indias, as shown in the
descriptive summary in Table 4.
INSERT TABLE 4 NEAR HERE
Note that social interaction with the locals made up the two extremes in the ranking of
satisfaction. On the one hand, tourist guides and bus and taxi drivers received the highest
mean satisfaction degree, whereas on the other hand, the interaction with street sellers
received the lowest degree of satisfaction. To explore if the total information available in the
tourists’ answers could be reduced to a set of conceptual factors, we applied principal
components analysis using the rotation method varimax with Kaiser normalizationi. The Kaiser-
Meyer and Olkin measure of sampling adequacy in this case was 0.945, revealing that the
observed correlation coefficients were close to the partial correlation coefficients. Moreover,
the Bartlett’s test rejects the null hypothesis that the correlation matrix is an identity matrixii.
Both criteria conclude that the strength of the relationship among the variables is strong and
the number of variables and the sample size are appropriate; therefore, it is possible to
proceed with the reduction of information technique. To determine the number of factors, the
criterion of eigenvalues greater than 1 was used. The results are presented in Table 5.
INSERT TABLE 5 NEAR HERE
In all cases, the loading to the factors of each variable was greater than 0.55, so all the
variables were presented. Factor 1 and factor 2 explained more than 78% of the total variance,
and each factor explained almost half the explained variances of 46% and 31%, which were the
first and second factors, respectively. Notice that the first factor makes a group with all the
variables having a mean higher than 4.17 in Table 4. Equally, the second factor collects all the
variables with a mean lower than 4.17 in Table 4. The sample mean of Table 4 is related to the
two factors, explaining 78% of the total variance. Thus, the two factors represent the simple
satisfaction of the tourists. On the one hand, the first factor captures the items that satisfied
the tourists’ expectations. On the other hand, the second factor captures the items that
tourists think are not good enough. The second factor represents the areas on which the
tourist policy makers of Cartagena de Indias should focus. Looking at factor 1, it can be said
that the visitors are satisfied with the general port infrastructure (welcome and port and

7. service infrastructure), the tourist information, the entertainment offered by the city (variety
of leisure activities, tourist information and historical centre) and the work done by people
directly related to the visit of the city (tourist guides, transport and language communication).
Factor 2 shows that there are problems related to the city infrastructure (traffic, noise,
cleanliness and infrastructure) and the shopping experience (attitude of local shopkeepers,
street vendors, general shopping experience and prices). Looking at the comments added by
the tourists, the problems with city infrastructure is related to a lack of WCs, lack of elevators
at the fortress, lack of infrastructure for aged tourists and places where the visitors can be
protected from the weather. The not-so-good shopping experience is related mainly to the
aggressive behavior of street vendors. Factor 2 represents the main source of information for
increasing the satisfaction of visitors. This satisfaction enhances the positive image of the port,
which is translated into a greater likelihood of return. Using the variables active in factor 2, a
cluster distribution of the tourist was made. The tourists are allocated in clusters according to
the probability distribution of the variables. The 9 variables are assumed to be multinomial and
independent. The two clusters identified were selected to maximize the Schwarz’s Bayesian
Criterion (BIC). Cluster number 1 has identified the individuals with less than extremely
satisfied answers. Cluster number 2 collects all the individuals with answers that are lower
than extremely satisfied. The valid sample is split into 46.3% and 53.7% of individuals in
clusters 1 and 2, respectively.
Table 6 explores whether the probability of being less than extremely satisfied, i.e., the
probability of being in cluster 1, depends on characteristics of the tourist. The hypothesis is
that there are tourists who are systematically more likely not to be extremely satisfied.
INSERT TABLE 6 NEAR HERE
There are two attributes of the tourist that have influence on the probability of being
less than extremely satisfied. First, tourists from the United States of America are more likely
to be less than extremely satisfied. Second, tourists who visited Cartagena de Indias before are
less likely to be less than extremely satisfied. Thus, tourists from the United States of America
seem to be more exigent, and therefore there are more difficulties for them to be fully
satisfied. The accumulation of experiences of the tourists can leave memories that can
influence their probability of visiting or suggesting to other tourists the same destination.
Moreover, as suggested by Andriotis and Agiomirgianakis (2010) in the case of cruise
passengers, the likelihood to return on a land-based vacation may be higher mainly because of
the limited time spent on shore, which may increase the possibility of returning to experience
aspects of the destination that were omitted the first time.
The probability of returning or recommending the port of Cartagena de Indias was studied
elsewhere (Brida and Coletti, 2010). However, it is interesting to explore whether an
individual’s belonging to the group with a less-than-extremely satisfied degree of satisfaction
would influence the probability of return or recommendation. Two binary logistic regressions
were applied using a dummy variable representing individuals who were less than extremely
satisfied. In the first regression, the dependent variable was the probability of return, whereas
in the second regression, the dependent variable was the probability of recommending
Cartagena de Indias. In both cases, there is no significant relation between the dummy variable
and the probability of return or recommendationiii.

8. 5. Conclusions
This study aimed to provide a better understanding of the Cartagena de Indias cruise
experience satisfaction by using a sample of 1,361 cruise passengers. The population of this
study consisted of passengers and crew older than 18 years who disembarked from arriving
cruise ships to the city of Cartagena de Indias between September 27 and November 14, 2009.
During this period, 28 cruise ships arrived at the port, with a total of 42,936 passengers. The
questionnaire was taken just minutes before the visitors returned to the cruise ship.
The results of the study suggest that although visitors had a high overall satisfaction with
the visit to Cartagena de Indias, there are two dimensions that require the attention of the
tourist policy makers and destination managers: the city infrastructure (traffic, noise,
cleanliness and infrastructure) and the general shopping experience. In particular, the worst
shopping experience seems to be related to street vendors’ attitudes. The study also shows
that tourists from the United States of America are more exigent of being fully satisfied. The
findings of our paper provide evidence of the importance of maintaining and improving service
quality and enhancing customer satisfaction. Managers and local policy makers must also
understand how to promote the destination and how to develop this segment of the tourism
market. More and more people in the world choose this relatively new type of vacation. They
have either started their first cruise journey or intend to repeat a cruise vacation. This finding
provides a good opportunity for Cartagena de Indias to attract cruisers arriving to the
destination as land tourists. Nevertheless, stakeholders have to pay attention to the special
characteristics of cruise tourism in terms of destination saturation, particularly on the
following two topics: first, avoiding the collapse of some areas mostly visited by tourists during
some periods; and second, preventing antagonism between residents and tourists, if residents’
perception of tourists evolves according to the Irridex model (Doxey, 1975).
It must be noted that the visit of cruise passengers to Cartagena de Indias is one aspect of
a larger cruise package. Therefore, it is important to satisfy the expectations of the passengers
during their visit to the city to offer both more positive experiences than other ports of call and
to maintain the destination as a cruise port of call, given that there is always the danger of
cruise lines canceling future visits to the destination if passengers are not satisfied. In the same
way, it has to be pinpointed that the cruise tourism industry is being characterized by a
growing competition among destinations, so tourists can easily choose among different
destinations.
According to the literature (see for example Andriotis and Agiomirgianakis (2010);
Gabe et al. (2006); Hosany and Witham (2010); Kozak (2001 and 2002); Li and Petrick (2010);
Petrick (2004a and 2004b); Hui et al. (2007)), a visit to a new destination can produce first-
hand experiences in the minds of tourists, influencing their probability of revisiting the same
destination. In the case of a cruise passenger, this probability could be a good opportunity for
destination managers and policy makers to show the attractions of the place to visitors who
can return to the destination. Satisfaction with the visit is directly related to the probability of
returning to the destination, and cruise passengers who have had a positive experience will
probably return as a land tourist or recommend a visit to the destination. The results show
suitable quality levels must be offered to the visitors, and manager strategies on cruise activity
at Cartagena de Indias must focus on improving the city infrastructure and the shopping
facilities to increase the satisfaction of visitors.
One important limitation of this paper is that it was only conducted in the months of
October and November. Future research can also include the repetition of the study in
different seasons and comparison with our results. The study shows that there is a good

9. potential for the growth of tourism activity at the destination because over 52% of the
respondents declared their intention to return to the city as land tourists, and more than 60%
will recommend the destination to their friends. Future research can include an additional
survey to determine the percentage of stay-over tourists coming to Cartagena de Indias that
had previously visited the destination as cruise ship passengers and to characterize this
population.

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14. i
A number of statistical procedures are applied in this paper using the Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences (SPSS Inc.).
ii
The statistics have a value of about 5,846, and a p-value of 0.
iii
For the probability of return, the coefficient of the dummy was 0.226, with a p-value of 0.22. For the
probability of recommendation, the coefficient of the dummy was 0.09, with a p-value of 0.63.

15. Table 1: Cruise ship arrivals in Cartagena de Indias, 1998-2009
Year Ships Passengers Crews Year Ships Passengers Crews Year Ships Passengers Crews
1998 161 148,733 76,343 2002 71 85,880 39,299 2006 38 42,024 18,626
1999 162 178,586 86,616 2003 32 31,063 14,335 2007 76 108,892 49,775
2000 117 147,511 73,874 2004 43 38,946 18,312 2008 137 206,691 95,514
2001 127 168,855 80,391 2005 35 41,542 17,993 2009 168 270,257 120,420
Source: Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Cartagena
Table 2: Cruise ship arrivals in Cartagena de Indias in 2009: seasonal variation
Month Ships Passengers Month Ships Passengers Month Ships Passengers
January 26 37,076 May 1 1,240 September 1 1,913
February 24 40,412 June 0 0 October 19 27,838
March 23 38,363 July 0 0 November 20 32,853
April 24 42,784 August 1 1,931 December 29 45,847
Source: Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Cartagena
Table 3: Characteristics of cruise ship tourists to Cartagena de Indias
Residence (% yes): Age (% in category):
USA 56.6 >56 64.4
Europe 8.8 46-55 16.5
Canada 9.3 26-45 16.8
Venezuela 16.7 16-25 1.6
Other Latin-American countries 5 < 15 0.7
Education: Income (% in category):
Below high school 2.16 < $25,000 8.4
High school 18.07 $26,000-$50,000 14.5
College/degree 56.57 $51,000-$75,000 16.2
Postgraduate 23.20 $76,000-$100,000 10.4
First cruise (% yes) 25.1 $101,000-$150,000 8.0
First visit (% yes) 87.8 >$150,000 7.5
Marital Status (% married): 75.4 Don’t Know/No Answer 34.9

16. Table 4: Mean ranking of the overall responses to satisfaction statements
Extremely Extremely
Valid Dissatisfied Satisfied Mean Median
Tourist guide in your tour
1207 0.5% 0.3% 1.9% 29.8% 67.4% 4.63 5
Bus and taxi drivers
1068 0.4% 0.1% 2.9% 31.8% 64.8% 4.61 5
Level of language communication by
1142 0.4% 0.6% 2.8% 35.5% 60.8% 4.56 5
guides and drivers
Historical centre
1117 0.1% 0.6% 4.8% 40.6% 53.8% 4.47 5
Transportation (buses and taxies)
1196 0.3% 1.1% 3.1% 41.8% 53.7% 4.47 5
Welcome
1246 0.2% 0.5% 3.9% 44.6% 50.7% 4.45 5
Variety of entertainment
1190 0.4% 1.3% 5.8% 46.0% 46.6% 4.37 4
Services and port infrastructure
1194 0.3% 0.8% 5.7% 49.0% 44.2% 4.36 4
Tourist information
1042 0.2% 1.5% 8.3% 44.7% 45.3% 4.33 4
Friendliness of local residents
1129 0.6% 1.1% 9.0% 44.9% 44.4% 4.31 4
Time availability to visit Cartagena de
1251 0.6% 6.0% 5.3% 51.8% 36.4% 4.17 4
Indias
Cleanliness of the city
1195 1.0% 4.7% 13.7% 46.4% 34.1% 4.08 4
Attitude of local shopkeepers
1083 1.6% 4.2% 11.2% 55.0% 28.0% 4.04 4
General shopping experience
682 2.1% 4.1% 13.5% 52.6% 27.7% 4.00 4
Infrastructure
1000 0.9% 2.9% 17.7% 55.6% 22.9% 3.97 4
Goods varieties
1059 0.8% 5.0% 15.7% 56.1% 22.4% 3.94 4
Traffic and noise
1144 0.9% 5.3% 22.0% 46.0% 25.8% 3.90 4
Prices
1060 1.4% 6.8% 16.1% 56.0% 19.6% 3.86 4
Weather
1178 3.3% 9.4% 16.0% 44.7% 26.6% 3.82 4
Street sellers
1081 10.1% 17.5% 24.1% 31.4% 17.0% 3.28 3

17. Table 5: Variables with higher contributions to each factor. The most important variables
suggested by the factor analysis are shown in this table for each factor. Also, the percentage of
inertia shows which factors are those that mostly explain the variability of the original data.
Eigenvalue % of Variance Rotated
Factor 1 9.313 46%
Tourist guide in your tour 0.857
Bus and taxi drivers 0.857
Level of language communications by guides and drivers 0.807
Historical centre 0.749
Transport (buses and taxies) 0.899
Welcome 0.892
Variety of entertainment 0.809
Services and port Infrastructure 0.870
Tourist information 0.748
Friendliness of local residents 0.750
Time available to visit Cartagena 0.716
Factor 2 6.312 31%
Cleanliness of the city 0.747
Attitude of local shopkeepers 0.688
General shopping experience 0.630
Infrastructure 0.695
Goods variety 0.623
Traffic and noise 0.838
Prices 0.567
Weather 0.726
Street sellers 0.831
Notes: Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser
Normalization. Total percentage of explained variance 78.124%.
Table 6: Logistic regression
Dependent Probability of being less than extremely satisfied in factor 2
Coeff. p-value Coeff. p-value Coeff. p-value
Per Capita Expenditure 0.001 0.25 0.001 0.24
USA Tourist 0.40 0.05 0.32 0.09 0.31 0.10
Crew 0.32 0.68
Older than 56 -0.10 0.63
Not First Time in Cartagena -1.11 0.03 -1.11 0.03 -1.11 0.03
More than 4 Hours on Shore -0.07 0.73
Take the cruise ship to Visit Cartagena 0.39 0.19
Take the cruise ship because the itinerary -0.21 0.31
Take the cruise ship because the price 0.18 0.72
Constant -2.22 0.00 -2.31 0.00 -2.37 0.00
Cox & Snell R Square 0.011 0.008 0.006