Economic significance of cruise tourism.

Cruise business is a growing segment of the international tourism market. While there have been studies of its economic impacts on a national level, the issues of the rests and benefits and their distribution have received scant attention. This paper develops a framework for assessing the economic impacts of cruise tourism for a nation and its subregions. It further explores how the framework can be used to estimate the relevant benefits and costs, A case study of cruise tourism in Australia shows how the framework can be implemented and discusses some policy implications. This analysis can facilitate future research, empirical studies, and strategy development relevant to cruise tourism. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.