The characteristics and attitudes of passengers towards the quality of services provided on the coastal routes of southwest Crete

Abstract

The ports of southwest Crete mainly concern those of Gavdos, Agia Roumeli, Loutro, Palaiochora, Sougia and Chora Sfakion. The main objective of this article is to analyze passengers’ characteristics, market conditions, and attitudes of Cretan residents towards the quality of services provided on the coastal routes of this specific region. The research is unique and can be extended to high demand coastal lines worldwide. We focused mainly on the "Sfakia-Agia Roumeli" coastal line, which consistently gathers the highest passenger traffic, and on the coastal company which holds an almost monopoly position in the market. In this context, primary research through structured questionnaires took place. The results showed that the participants are not completely satisfied with the company and its services, consider safety on-board as the most important quality factor, are concerned by the age of the ships and are willing to pay more for any quality improvements. Also, non-parametric inferential tests revealed that passengers who travel with their vehicle are more satisfied than those who travel without it, while their degree of satisfaction is stronger the more times they have traveled on these lines and if they travel for business reasons