From managing crowds to managing experiences: rethinking tourism policy in cruise destinations

Tourism crowding is a growing policy concern in cruise destinations, where high visitor concentrations challenge sustainability and experience quality. Existing studies primarily focus on managing visitor flows, often overlooking tourists’ perceptions and reactions. This study adopts a behavioural perspective, examining how social and physical crowding influence port-of-call satisfaction and future behavioural intentions. Survey data from 340 first-time and 197 repeat visitors in a Mediterranean cruise port of call are analysed using PLS-SEM with multigroup comparison. Findings show that crowding does not uniformly reduce experience quality. Physical crowding negatively affects port-of-call satisfaction and recommendation intentions, whereas social crowding positively influences satisfaction and social media sharing intentions, indicating that social density can enhance destination experience. Repeat visitors are more sensitive to crowding, particularly spatial constraints. The results suggest that policy should move beyond flow control toward managing visitor experience, adopting segment-specific strategies to maintain satisfaction under high-density tourism conditions.