by Andrew Coggins Jr. (Author)
In Cruising's ten million-passenger plus, multi- billion dollar, transnational world, ships entering the market must woo the public imagination in order to compete. Ships that do so, become legends. What do they possess that others don't? A Grounded Theory Approach, Delphi Exercise, and worldwide electronic survey are used to create a model and identify legendary ships. Factor Analysis distills identified tangible and intangible properties into four composite factors of Attractiveness, Significance, Power, & Competitive Advantage. Significantly, no modern cruise ships were among the top legends; save Queen Mary 2, built, marketed, and viewed as an ocean liner; indicating that the public views ocean liners and cruise ships as distinct entities. Seeing legendary ships, "grand hotels of the sea," as extensions of other hospitality & tourism legends, this book will be useful to hospitality, marketing, and communications professionals; maritime historians; architecture & transportation enthusiasts; and anyone else interested in a unique blending of qualitative and quantitative research.