Research on the Cruise Industry Chain’s Benefits Distribution Based on Game Theory: A Case Study of the Shanghai Cruise Industry

With the development of China’s cruise industry since 2006, many homeports being built. This paper compares the structure of the cruise industry domestically and abroad. After that, authors found imperfections in industries that are upstream and downstream from cruises in China. Based on the theory of benefits distribution in industry chain, this study proposes the mechanism of benefits distribution for the cruise industry chain. When analyzing the Shanghai cruise industry chain, which is the most mature cruise industry in China, the problem of imbalance was found in the industry chain. Using game theory, the result was calculated that the profits distribution ratio of cruise companies, port companies and service supporting enterprises is 13/48:47/96:23/96. By using the Nash Model, the authors consider the benefits distribution among those member enterprises with equal status as the evaluation criterion of the maximum benefit. Modeling results show that the Shapley model corresponds with the requirements of benefit maximization. Finally, using the Shanghai “Twelfth Five-Year” Plan target of 100 million people as a validation analysis, the total profits of the industry chain will increase by 128.57%. Therefore, in order to develop the local economy of our country, it’s necessary to draw on the experience of foreign cruise industry development. For now, the dominant right of the industrial chain should be gradually transferred to the port enterprises, in order to maximize the cruise economic benefits.