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‘Tour me onshore’: understanding cruise tourists’ evaluation of shore excursions through text mining

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to shed light on the elements underlying cruise tourists’ evaluation of shore excursions, approaching them as an interaction of expressive and instrumental components. To fulfil the aim of the investigation, a thematic content analysis of 1296 online reviews was conducted using the text-mining software Leximancer. The results of the study revealed that cruise visitors with different overall satisfaction with their guided tour focus the narrative of their opinion on different tour attributes. Thus, the dominant themes of the cruise passengers delighted with their tour included the performance of the tour guide, the arrangement of the tour, as well as the cruise destination sightseeing. On the other hand, instrumental components such as crowded bus tours, limited time at the port of call, and inadequate excursion design appeared to be the main aspects appointed by those unsatisfied with their onshore experience. Furthermore, the study assessed and compared the perceptions of the tour experience across cruise passengers from the contemporary, premium and luxury cruise line segments.