Cruise terminals site selection process: An institutional analysis of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong Yui-yip Lau a , Ka-chai Tam b , Adolf K.Y. Ng c,d, ⁎, Athanasios A. Pallis e,f a Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China b Department of History, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China c Department of Supply Chain Management, I.H. Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba, Canada d Transport Institute, University of Manitoba, Canada e Department of Shipping, Trade and Transport, University of the Aegean, Greece f MedCruise, Greece abstract article info Article history: Received 1 March 2014 Received in revised form 13 October 2014 Accepted 13 October 2014 Available online xxxx Keywords: Kai Tak Cruise Terminal Institution Site selection Hong Kong This paper undertakes an institutional analysis on how the site of Hong Kong's Kai Tak Cruise Terminal (KTCT) was selected following the closure of Kai Tak Airport in 1998. The focus in on how the existing cruise terminal struggled to accommodate new demand, which prompted the idea of constructing a new terminal. Data collected via semi-structured, in-depth interviews with a number of key personnel involved in the decision-making pro- cess and planning reveal how public opinion and inputs from various institutional agents forced the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government to abandon alternative development plans, paving the way for the development of the KTCT, with the final decision representing a compromise between opposed political forces. The study provides insights into the institutional factors at play during the location of and site selection for cruise terminals, including evidence that more societal actors are involved than is the case of other transport terminal construction projects, and illustrates the interaction between terminals and urban land use. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction A cruise has been defined as ‘any fare paying voyage for leisure on- board a vessel whose primary purpose is the accommodation of guests and not freight normally to visit a variety of destinations rather than to operate on a set route’ (Wild & Dearing, 2000, pp. 319–320). Once seen as the ‘transportation of pleasure-seeking travellers on ocean voyages offering one or more glamorous ports of calls’ (Kendail, 1986, p. 360), cruises today are taken in a more relaxed atmosphere and are generally provided in large ships, or ‘floating hotels’, that choose particular ports to provide their customers with excellent in-port experience. Cruise tourism, which is among the most internationalized and dy- namic sectors of the world economy, is seeking to expand its source markets. Cruise lines are attempting to attract younger passengers, offer fly-cruise options, raise cruise capacities, provide wide-ranging shore side activities and change cruise durations, prices and itineraries. They provide differentiated services that aim to fulfil the expectations of travellers of different backgrounds, ages and interests. Premium cruises focus on quality, comfort, style and destination itineraries and are gen- erally offered in intermediate-sized ships. Luxury cruises provide a high standard of accommodation and service and generally use smaller-sized vessels. Adventure cruises offer specialised itineraries to ports and are characterized by sporty shore excursions (Gui & Russo, 2011). In this context, ports aiming to host cruises need to develop specialised terminals. Cruises are willing to change itineraries and drop specific ports of call if inordinate numbers of customers experience dissatisfaction (Henthorne, 2000). The transportation and itinerary planning elements are core essential considerations in the evolution and structuring of the sector (Vaggelas & Pallis, 2010). In addition, the observed increase of vessels' size imposes important questions regarding the development of a cruise terminal or the selec- tion of a site to develop a new one. To cope with the increasing number of passengers, ‘super-sized’ cruise ships carrying more than 2000 pas- sengers emerged in the mid-1980s. As of 2014, 55 cruise ships with maximum capacities of more than 3000 passengers, lengths of more than 290 m and beams of 36 m or more are in operation, and 20 more are under construction. This new generation of cruise ship is reliant on economies of scale (i.e., the mass tourism market), at the cutting edge of design and technical innovation and offers a multifaceted recreational shipboard experience. As one of the fastest-growing industries in the world (cf. Soriani, Bertazzon, Cesare, & Rech, 2009), this capital-intensive industry with high fixed costs develops its plans based on the planning and capacity of cruise terminals to accommodate these modern vessels in an efficient and effective way. Research in Transportation Business & Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Supply Chain Management, I.H. Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba, Canada. RTBM-00158; No of Pages 8 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2014.10.003 2210-5395/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research in Transportation Business & Management Please cite this article as: Lau, Y., et al., Cruise terminals site selection process: An institutional analysis of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong, Research in Transportation Business & Management (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2014.10.003