Abstract

Cruise tourism is rapidly growing in the last ten years worldwide and not just in North America. From a niche market it is becoming an important way to diversify the tourist supply and a stimulus for the coastal regional develoment even if sustainability is challenging. Identifying an itinerary and route, is central both for tour operators and shipowners in order to define a cruise product, and for port authorities in major and marginal places. The Caribbean area has been a precurson of the fenomenom and in this working paper it is presented the case of the West Indies' area with a specific discussion about Barbados.