Cruise tourism in Malaysia: A SWOT analysis - Theory and Practice in Hospitality and Tourism Research - page 192

incidents recently. In fact, these cruise incidents
have negatively impacted on the demand for cruise
tourism as well as the prices for the cruise tour. For
instance, the demand for cruise tourism was found
approximately 15 percent to 20 percent in the
weeks after the cruise incident of Costa Concordia
that stranded off the coast of Isola del Giglio, Italy
on 13th of January 2014 (CBC News, 2012).
Another negative perception towards cruising
will be misperception of the customer whom por-
trait cruises as a cheap and gambling focus excur-
sion, especially for the Asian market (Golden,
2013). Asian always have the conservative thought
that assumed on-board casino as the main attrac-
tion that commonly used to promote a particular
cruise or cruise liner yet this is not the case.

reinforcement of government policy regarding the
safety and security of Malaysian waters in order
to minimise or avoid from severe piracy. Moreover,
the cruise liners may try to improve on the percep-
tions of people towards cruising in Malaysia or
other regions. Perhaps, this can be done through
educating the public or market with more specific
knowledge about cruising or through a properly
plan media and social network as the societies now
are much influenced by the media and social net-
works in their daily life.
All in all, there are rooms for the cruise industry
in Malaysia to further develop and sustain in the
industry. However, this is only provided when the
cruise operators, port authorities, communities,
and the government are to work together in plan-
ning and strategy developments.

3.4.2 Piracy
Externally, piracy also has been identified as one
of the threats that create risks for a cruise industry
(Dowling, 2006; Global Travel Industry News, 2009;
Bundhun, 2011). According to a report presented
by Statista (2013), the statistic of pirate attacks
was the highest in year 2010 recorded 445 cases.
Although the number of pirate attacks reduced to
297 in year 2012 yet it does create a threat towards
the safety of the cruise industry (Dowling, 2006).
Indeed, the primary routes of international cruis-
ing as well as the geographical location of piracy
include the Indian Ocean, Straits of Malacca, Red
Sea or Horn of Africa, and Indonesian and Malay-
sian waters which contributed to the areas of con-
cern in the cruise industry (Global Travel Industry
News, 2009; Dowling, 2006). This factor will then
take into consideration of the cruise liners when
designing on the itinerary of the cruises as well as
when consider a cruise destination due to the rea-
son that passenger safety and security are always the
primary concerns of them, says Sasso as the chair-
man of the Cruise Lines International Association
(CLIA) in the Global Travel Industry News (2009).

REFERENCES

AIPA. (2011). Brief note on the roles of the National Secu-
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| The National.
Burke, C. (2009). A qualitative study of victimization and
legal issues relevant to cruise ships.
CBC News. (2012). Cruise ship incidents drive down
demand, prices—World—CBC News .
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Dowling, R. (2014). Cruise ship tourism . India: CABI
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Genting. (2014). Group Profile—Star Cruises Limited .
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threat near Somalia.
Golden, F. (2013). Cracking challenging Asia cruise mar-
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4 CONCLUSION

Overall, there are several great opportunities that
can be used on using the strengths that are cur-
rently available in the industry or market. On the
other hand, the government and cruise operators
should also take into consideration of overcoming
the threats that posed by the environment and the
industry itself. It is very crucial for all the stake-
holders and shareholders of the cruise industry in
Malaysia to work together for future development
and sustainability.
In terms of threats such as the negative per-
ception, threats of substitute tourism products
and piracy, the government might look into the