An Analysis on the Relationships between Port Selection Factors

The world economy has came into unlimited competition with globalization since 1990. Opening markets to the world is in progress through the expansion of world free trade and internationalization of multinational enterprises. In the maritime transportation for world trade, shipping companies pursue "Hub & Spoke" strategy so a port which is not able to be located as a hub port is degraded as a feeder port. To attract shipping companies, it is necessary for existing ports to provide differentiated service. This paper devises marketing strategies for a competitive port after evaluating relation among the factors affecting port selection when a shipping company chooses a port of call. On the basis of determinants derived from existing researches, we study the relation as well as importance among the factors of port selection.