The Performance of Seaport Clusters - RePub - Erasmus Universiteit ...

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The Performance of Seaport Clusters
the private sector, with ‘financial matching’ by the private sector and more involvement as
most important benefits.
Even though investments in the marketing and promotion regime in Rotterdam are
substantially higher than in the other two cases, the evaluation of the marketing and
promotion regime is not positive. In the open interviews experts indicate that they doubt
whether RPPC’s ‘traditional’ activities are still effective, given the increasing role of ICT and
rationalization of supply chain management. In this view, the RPPC has to pay more
attention to ‘strategic decision-makers’ and less to operational transport and logistics
managers.
The marketing and promotion regime; conclusions from the cases
The experts indicate that an effective marketing and promotion regime is important for the
performance of the port cluster. The quality of the marketing and promotion regime improves
when a specific organizational infrastructure is created. Rotterdam is the only port where
such an infrastructure has developed. The marketing and promotion regime in the three
ports is judged as moderate. On the basis of interviews, the following opportunities to
improve the regime have been identified:
Table 65: Opportunities to improve the marketing and promotion regime in the cases
Port cluster Opportunity to improve the marketing and promotion regime
LMPC Improve market intelligence.
Cooperation between port authorities to position the LMPC as ‘gateway for the
Mid-West’ and USA’s largest port complex.
Durban Coalition to market Durban as location for port related manufacturing and
logistics activities.
Rotterdam Transforming marketing efforts away from ‘operational transport managers’
towards strategic decision makers.