Fear and Trembling of Cruise Ship Employees: Psychological Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Aleksandar Radic, Michael Lück, Antonio Ariza-Montes and Heesup Han
Additional contact information
Aleksandar Radic: Independent Researcher, Gornji kono 8, 20000 Dubrovnik, Croatia
Michael Lück: School of Hospitality & Tourism, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
Antonio Ariza-Montes: Department of Management, Universidad Loyola Andalucía, 14004 Córdoba, Spain
Heesup Han: College of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, Korea

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-17

Abstract: The current COVID-19 pandemic has evolved to unprecedented proportions. This research aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ship employees stuck at sea. Using an inductive qualitative approach, a synchronous online focus group was conducted with nine cruise ship employees who were stuck at sea during COVID-19 pandemic. The findings revealed that COVID-19 pandemic has managed to erase the feeling of joy from cruise ship employees who were stuck at sea while exposing weakness of cruise line companies such as poor human resource management leadership. Moreover, COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that it is of paramount importance that cruise line companies create a comprehensive strategy in assisting their employees who are experiencing an anxiety disorder and depression. The managerial implications are outlined.

Keywords: coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; qualitative methods; cruise ship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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