This study developed an optimization model, defined as the IPS (Itinerary for Passenger Satisfaction), for a cruise ship to identify an itinerary that maximizes passenger satisfaction. A 0-1 integer programming model was developed to provide an optimal sequence of ports of call, assigning a destination to each day of the cruise. The concepts of the destination access network and the neighborhood of a destination were designed and manipulated to organize the complex network of destinations so that each next destination is selected within a practical overnight sail. The developed model can also be viewed as a reduced variant of the traveling salesperson problem with less constraints. A set of example tests shows that practical scenarios of the IPS with moderate cruise duration can be easily solved with light computation loads. Considering cruise ship passengers usually make their decisions not relying on only one destination but on an itinerary in its entirety, the purpose of this study was to identify itinerary alternatives to attract potential cruise passengers for attaining maximum occupancy level.

크루즈 관광 산업은 모든 관광 산업 중 세계적으로 가장 빠르게 성장하고 있는 관광산업임에도 불구하고, 지금까지 합리적 크루즈 경영의사결정에 관한 학술적 연구가 매우 미진한 상황이다. 이 논문은 크루즈 경영에 관한 기초적인 전략적 의사결정이라고 할 수 있는 크루즈 운항일정계획을 다루고 있다. 이전에 개발된 한척의 크루즈선박에 관한 모형의 제한점을 극복하여, 여러 척의 크루즈선박으로 구성된 크루즈 선대를 일반적으로 다룰 수 있는 최적화 의사결정계획 모형을 개발하였다. 후보운항일정계획들 간의 복잡성을 체계화하기 위해 선박별 후보운항일정계획 네트워크를 제안하였으며, 후보운항일정계획 네트워크 전체를 통합하는 정수계획모형을 개발하였다. 공개된 크루즈 운항일정 자료들에 바탕을 둔 가상 사례를 활용하여 개발된 모형을 실험하였다.

This paper presents a decision making model for the cruise ship management. A network based optimization model has been developed for a single cruise ship operation. It gives optimal itinerary patterns over the planning period for the cruise ship managers wanting to maximize profit from the cruise ship operation. A network solution method to find the optimal solution is also developed. This network model can be equivalently transformed into a linear programming model, which makes the implementation of the model quite practical however complicated the given set of possible itineraries may be. The ship scheduling network developed in this study can also be used as a general framework to describe all possible cruise ship itineraries the cruise ship manager can figure out.