The work described in this thesis is concerned with economic and financial issues, including safety analysis, and their application to the companies operating in the Cyprus and Mediterranean cruise market. This thesis applies "financial and economic" methodologies suitable for a cruise product. They are used as the basis for the development of more scientific and objective financial and economic methods and safety modelling techniques applicable to the operation of cruise ships in the Cyprus and Mediterranean regions. A qualitative methodology is developed to analyse the passengers' attitudes to cruise tourism, the fundamental considerations of competition at sea and the factors considered important for choosing a destination in the Cyprus and Mediterranean regions. A business strategy model is developed to provide an established mechanism for cruise companies in making decisions on the coming into service of a cruise ship or when entering the cruise market. A Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) model is developed to determine its applicability to cruise ships. For this reason, a test case study, which is limited to one accident category, namely fire, is conducted in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed methodology. A cost, benefit and risk assessment methodology is developed to help cruise companies in their strategic planning and decision-making process for the safest, economic and efficient operation of cruise ships. This thesis also presents a proposed methodology involving the use of investment appraisal and risk assessment techniques. This approach may be used by cruise companies to evaluate project alternatives and make decisions that will be beneficial for them. A generic cruise ship and anonymous cruise companies are used to demonstrate the methodologies developed in this thesis. Finally, the results of the research project are summarised and the areas where further effort is seen to be required to improve the developed methodologies are outlined.