Seasonality of cruise tourism in Spanish ports. A multivariate approach

The aim of this paper is to propose a methodological approach for the analysis of the seasonality of cruise tourism. By means of multivariate statistical techniques, principal component factor and cluster analysis, a classification of destination ports is obtained, based on the monthly distribution of cruise passengers. In addition, the Gini index is obtained as a single annual measure of the seasonal concentration in each destination. The application of the proposed methodology to the Spanish ports, with monthly data covering the last five years, reveals that there are some homogeneous groups of ports with stable similar seasonal patterns, while some other ports show less stable and heterogeneous seasonal profiles.