The cruise industry is booming - but many cities are now prohibiting the giant ships from docking. That is because, in addition to the noise created by too many tourists, they also cause a lot of environmental damage and CO2 emissions. 

Metropolitan City of Venice

Extreme weather events are occurring more frequently amid rising sea-levels and increasing temperatures.

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The cruise industry is currently experiencing significant growth. However, this expansion has led to increased scrutiny over the environmental impact of cruise ships. Several cities worldwide have begun imposing bans on these large vessels due to concerns about noise pollution from the influx of tourists and the substantial environmental damage and CO2 emissions caused by the ships.

These measures have been introduced as a response to the negative effects of the cruise industry on local environments and communities. The decision to prohibit the docking of giant cruise ships aims to mitigate the ecological footprint and reduce the noise pollution associated with high tourist numbers. Such actions underscore the growing global concern over sustainable tourism and the environmental cost of maintaining the cruise industry.



Cruise industry faces bans over environmental impact

Cruise control. That's what some European cities are seeking. Venice and Barcelona are among the popular tourist destinations which have limited larger passenger vessels from docking downtown in an effort to reduce environmental damage and crowding of city centres. The NGO Transport and Environment released a study in June which says pollution from the cruise industry is increasing overall in Europe, noting that cities which have blocked ships are seeing ecological benefits. A huge surprise was that in 2019 the most polluted cruise ship city was Venice and in 2022 it fell below the 40th place. And this was due indeed to a ban that made it a lot more challenging for big cruise ships to dock there. Other port cities are looking at such examples. A study by the Tourist Board of the Dutch-speaking area of Belgium, Visit Flanders, polled residents of Antwerp, Bruges and Ghent about cruise traffic and found that more than half of residents in each city believe the ships have a negative impact on their environment. Maria Nauwert is the sustainability manager for Visit Flanders and led the study. We met her at her office in Antwerp, from which you can see a docked cruise ship from her window way across town. She said residents' major concern was emissions. So the ship is right there. You can see it the whole time. Air quality was really the most important one, especially also here in Antwerp where there is a low emission zone. That has been mentioned a lot. So people state we live in a low emission zone, but at the same time there is a ship docking which runs on very heavy fuel. In Belgium, the opposition is highest in Bruges, even though those ships dock almost 15 kilometers away from the city. The most recent survey finds more than 70 percent of Bruges residents want fewer cruise passengers to visit. Good morning in Antwerp and welcome in Antwerp. The principle of free tour is very easy. In Antwerp, however, more residents are turning in favor of cruise tourism. They like tourists here and it's not too much. I think in some cities, like in Venice, there are too many tourists, but here it's normal. For visitors, the proximity of the cruise terminal to the old town is a huge plus. My first visit here and I'm already impressed by the wonderful buildings. We've also visited Hamburg and that was a long way from the center. So this is much better, in my opinion, to be off the ship in the center. And away we go, more time in the city. Wonderful, thank you. Antwerp Vice Mayor for Mobility, Koen Kennis, echoes that enthusiasm for the accessibility provided by the downtown terminal, which has just been renovated under his watch. They walk straight in the city, they don't need buses, they don't need extra transport for visiting the city. And that's also very important because that's a lot less invasive in our city. Kennis says the visitors are a crucial source of income for Antwerp. It's 60, 70 euro a day that they live in the city. That's important for the city, it brings prosperity for the city. The Visit Flanders research puts the average daily amount spent by an ocean cruise passenger at just 40 euros per day, going up to 66 euros for luxury passengers. That's largely because the ships themselves provide meals and entertainment, explains Marja Naualert. We saw that cruise passengers stay a bit less than five hours on average in the destination that they visit. And if that's true now, how can port cities compete with ships like Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas setting sail? The ship itself becomes the destination. Built in Finland by Meijer Turku and launching from Florida in January, the largest cruise ship in the world offers more than 20 restaurants, seven swimming pools and endless entertainment options to the potentially 7,600 people on board. Meijer Turku's CEO Tim Meijer says this all-inclusiveness also offers the opportunity to be more environmentally conscious. We have everything on board and it's all one system and we are able to optimize the energy consumption, for example. Every time we are building a prototype, this time we were able to reduce per head, so to say per passenger, 20% of the energy consumption. Icon of the Seas will be powered using LNG and fuel cell technology. It is also equipped to connect to electricity for its power needs when docked. That will be mandatory in European ports from the year 2030. The reason Europe had to make it compulsory is that until now there was no demand from cruise ships to connect to shore-side electricity. And the reason is simple, it's because it's a lot cheaper to power all your hotels and swimming pools by burning a dirty fuel rather than to buy the electricity from the port. Some industry leaders are calling for carbon-neutral cruising by the year 2050. Between now and then, though, cities will have to make difficult decisions about who they will allow to pay visits to their ports and what that will cost them.

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New York

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Riyadh

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Council of the City of Sydney

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