Is the underlined part understandable?

Question

Hi!Is the underlined part understandable in this sentence (sorry tha it is so long - I just wanted to give you some context so that you would understanbd what I mean with this).Considering that the concert will feature world-famous musicians, we are ready to welcome visitors from foreign states. Therefore, we have provoked an interest from cruise ship companies which will ensure that the Finish and Swedish music fans have comfortable travel to Berlin.

Wilpeter · Accepted Answer

Anonymouswe have provoked an interest from cruise ship companies which will ensure

I would likely say, "...we have provoked --- interest among cruise ship companies, which..."

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you! I will do that!

AlpheccaStars · Answer

AnonymousFinish

Finnish

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousIs the underlined part understandable

Not really. 'provoked' is strange to my ear there. I'm not sure whether you purposely 'provoked' the cruise ship companies, for example, by contacting them and urging them to act, or whether they found out about the situation and this provoked them to act on their own. The therefore makes it sound more like the first.

When it comes to the word 'provoke', I'm more familiar with the usages below* (from a dictionary), and I would change the ending a little, so if I have your meaning correctly, it goes more like this, in my opinion:

Therefore, we have enlisted the participation of cruise ship companies to ensure that Finnish and Swedish music fans can travel comfortably to Berlin.

CJ

*provoke - to make (some person, animal) angry
He just says those things because he's trying to provoke you.
The animal will not attack unless it is provoked.

Wilpeter · Answer

Well, your answer is certainly thought-provoking!<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Wilpeter · Answer

My impression is that “provoking” needs context to determine negativity.
Do hard-boiled eggs need to be provoked with salt and mayonnaise to taste interesting? From the eggs’ point of view, the flavouring might be negative; but the result is positive.
Does a student need to be provoked into reading Milton or Shakespeare?
I find the word "provoke" to be similar to "stimulate". It is, however, just an opinion.

CalifJim · Answer

wilpeterMy impression is that “provoking” needs context to determine negativity. ... Does a student need to be provoked into reading Milton or Shakespeare? ... similar to "stimulate"

I think is has to do with 'agency'. Non-agentive provocation is typical. It's "not on purpose". You see something that interests you. It provokes your interest, but it's not an agent, so it can't "provoke you on purpose". It provokes your interest "by chance". It just happens to get your attention. So it's typical for something other than a person to provoke your interest or your thoughts.

When an agent (e.g., "we") is the subject, it seems impossible to think of the provocation as "not on purpose" because people act with intentions, so when the OP uses "Therefore, we provoked the interest of the cruise ship companies", it sounds like the writer wants to express agency: "We purposely provoked their interest", and yet this scenario is unlikely because we want to think of it as "not on purpose": "We did something or other, not necessarily intending it to be noticed by the cruise ship companies, but what we did provoked their interest by chance". In my opinion the conflict can't be resolved without rewriting the sentence.

CJ

Wilpeter · Answer

CalifJimWhen an agent (e.g., "we") is the subject

(I apologize, but I had never before heard of grammatical agents; so I’ll spend some hours learning about it when I can.)

CalifJimWe purposely provoked their interest

I realize that we’re going deeper than the questioner intended, but I hope he/she learned enough from your comments to rearrange the communication.
The first sentence stands alone, I believe. “Considering that…, we are ready to welcome visitors…”
(Because of the nature of the musicians, we are ready.)
The second sentence starts with “Therefore, we…” but the reference backward is to the assumption: “there will be foreign visitors.” Thus, “Therefore” could be deleted.
We don’t know (from the text provided) what the provocation was—a hint, a threat, a bribe—but it is assumed that the “interest” will ensure “comfortable travel”. Personally, I think it would be how the cruise ship companies direct that “interest”.
So, with the abbreviated communication not being the originator’s concern, I evaluated just the word ‘provoked’ and found it acceptable. I’ll accept that it was an opinion backed with far less grammatical skills than you have.

Is the underlined part understandable?

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