| Summary: | 碩士 === 中國文化大學 === 觀光事業學系 === 107 === The global cruising market has grown remarkably in recent years, in particular, when it comes to the Asian market. Meanwhile, the rapid growth in both cruising itineraries and passenger capacity have also been found in the Asian market. Nevertheless, despite the European and the American cruising companies have been dedicated to the homosexual tourism, the homosexual community activities in Asia are still confined to some areas due to conservative customs and traditions. As a result, homosexual tourists face a number of travel constraints when being engaged with the travel-related activities in Asia. Given that both cruise travel and homosexual tourism are regarded the niche markets, and the previous researches show that homosexual community possesses the considerable consuming power, this study not only examines the travel constraints which prevent Taiwanese homosexual tourists from going on a cruise travel but also explores the service elements that appeal to them. In-depth interviews are conducted on four experts coming from the cruise and tourism industries in line with the scholars from the academic field. Four focus group interviews with a total of 17 participants are done to survey the homosexual tourists whom have either with or without cruise experience. The results show two types of constraints: (1) interpersonal constraints: uneasiness with social interactions with strangers; (2) structural constraints: concerns about prices, schedule compatibility, and the quality of cruise ships. The findings eliminate the gap between the theoretical studies and reality regarding the homosexual cruise travel constraints, and further provide the tourism industry with specific guidelines for future product design and cruise itinerary marketing.
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