Cruise homeport competition in the Mediterranean

The paper evaluates the competitiveness of homeports in the Mediterranean in the period between 2011 and 2016. It employs the shift-share technique that includes the competitive and allocation effects to evaluate the competitive advantage and specialisation of the top home ports in the Mediterranean area. The west and east Mediterranean area indicate different growth rates with the ports on the east side operating in a more turbulent environment. Also, certain ports apply a specialisation strategy that is not in line with their competitive advantages or suitable to address their disadvantages. The research provides an insight of the competitive forces in the cruise port market of the Mediterranean Sea which is particularly useful for investment decision making and marketing strategies of ports and prospective destinations.