The impact of overtourism on popular cruise destinations

The travel and tourism sector is experiencing a global boom, supported by a mix of affordable vacation deals, fast and convenient transportation options, and the constant presence of the world’s most desirable destinations on social media.

Last year, the World Travel & Tourism Council reported that growth in the sector outpaced that of the global economy for the sixth consecutive year. According to the World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) long-term forecast, international tourist arrivals worldwide are expected to reach 1.8 billion by 2030. With a direct contribution of US$2.3 trillion, or 3.1%, to global GDP, the tourism sector outperformed all other industries in 2017.

But in certain destinations, especially such well-known tourist magnets as Venice and Barcelona, ​​the authorities point out that the economic contribution brought by the crowds of tourists far exceeds the disruption caused to public services and the inhabitants of the cities during the holiday season.

Much of this phenomenon is due to the cruise industry, which focuses on coastal destinations and attracts large numbers of vacationers, many of whom ultimately spend little to nothing in the local economy. Unlike other visitors, cruise passengers enjoy a variety of amenities on board, meaning they spend less money on land.

What these places are experiencing is overtourism, a concept that came to the public in 2012, around the time when Elizabeth Becker’s investigative novel Overbooked hit the shelves and exposed the negative sides of this trillion-dollar industry. Since then, overtourism and the reactive trend known as responsible tourism have become buzzwords in the travel world.

Overcrowding poses the risk of destruction of historic sites

“The world’s population is largely concentrated in coastal regions,” says Dr. Harold Goodwin, executive director of the Responsible Tourism Partnership and adviser to World Travel Market on its Responsible Tourism program.

“If you add to this the attraction of urban tourism, which often takes place on the coast, as well as beach holidays, and then add to that the cruise ships, which obviously contribute to the excesses, then you can see how the problem is getting bigger.”

Statistics from the Venice Passenger Terminal show that 529 cruise ships docked last year. Since its opening in 1997, over 20 million cruise ships from 200 countries have passed through the port.

The problem reached a critical point in 2014, when residents and activists supported a ban on large cruise ships weighing over 96,000 tons from docking near St. Mark’s Square in the heart of the city’s historic center.

The story continues

Since January 2015, cruise lines have only been sending ships with a gross tonnage of 96,000 to Venice while they await approval for a new 4.8-kilometer-long Contorta Sant’Angelo canal that would bypass the Venice lagoon.

But despite the restrictions, the ships continue to bring millions of people into the country throughout the year, prompting Venetians to stage street demonstrations against the arrival of these people and threaten a mass exodus from the “fragile” city.

In July last year, the United Nations threatened to put Venice on UNESCO’s list of heritage in danger if Italy failed to completely ban giant cruise ships from the city’s lagoon by 2017. It called on the city of Venice to recognise the increase in tourism as a “macro-emergency” while adopting new measures to regulate water traffic, including a lagoon vessel traffic service system.

“Residents and activists supported a ban on large cruise ships.”

Barcelona is facing a similar situation. In 2015, it was the leading cruise port in the Mediterranean, welcoming two million cruise passengers that year and a total of 32 million visitors in 2016.

Its popularity led to a rapid increase in rents across the city as lucrative holiday rentals proliferated. This also resulted in residents being pushed out of the old centre and local businesses closing and being replaced by international chains. At street level, public spaces are being overrun by tourists, which over time risks diluting local heritage and authenticity. For this reason, authorities recently passed a new law limiting the number of beds in hotels and holiday rentals.

During the Skift Global Forum in May, Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, said the company is encouraged to continue bringing its ships to Barcelona and is currently planning to open a brand new cruise terminal. Carnival Corporation expects to accommodate over a million passengers in the Port of Barcelona after the terminal opens in 2018.

Duffy told the forum that cruise lines are under pressure to visit key destinations due to market demand, and that changes in itinerary are often dictated by crises and disease outbreaks, rather than the need to expand tourism to new areas.

Weighing up the financial benefits

The general perception is that tourism is a financial bonanza for the host city. Revenues collected by the UNWTO from international visitors’ spending on accommodation, food and drink, entertainment, shopping and other services and goods show that Southern and Mediterranean Europe generated revenues of US$1.9 trillion in 2014, representing 16 percent of the global share.

“I think you have to make a very convincing case for the economic benefit,” says Goodwin.

“When a cruise ship docks in port, people have probably already had a good breakfast on the ship. They may have lunch somewhere in town, but they are probably not very hungry and will probably have dinner again on the ship.

“So you have to ask yourself what they’re going to spend their money on. They’re certainly going to see some sights, but in Venice, for example, less than 20% of people actually go to the Doge’s Palace. That would mean that over 80% of all visitors aren’t paying to visit anything during their stay. They’re just enjoying the free public attractions, and the same goes for Barcelona.”

Some cities have developed innovative methods to distribute the flow of visitors outside the city center and thus reduce overcrowding.

New York has introduced a five-borough strategy to encourage tourists to leave Manhattan and head to Queens and Brooklyn.

Venetian authorities are currently considering introducing an entrance fee to the city’s historic center and setting up special queues for locals and tourists at popular vaporetto stops.

“Of the work being done around the world, the best is probably being done in Barcelona. They are starting to solve many of the problems that come with large numbers of tourists by better distributing tourists around the city and trying to manage the flow of tourists so that people have a better experience but the impact on the city’s residents is not extreme,” says Goodwin.

Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau has published the 2020 Strategic Plan for Tourism, which looks at ways to manage the flow of passengers into the city center.

The rise of responsible tourism

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2017 the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. The aim is to encourage better practices so that tourism can promote economic growth, social inclusion and the protection of cultural and natural assets.

“We’re not just focused on minimizing negative impacts,” says Goodwin. “For example, we’re currently working on a project in Uganda where we’re trying to increase the benefits for the local population.”

However, the cruise industry must step up and take responsibility for its contribution to the problem, argues Goodwin.

Currently, the cruise market is enjoying increasing popularity with state-of-the-art all-inclusive ships, which make passengers less inclined to spend money on land as meals, accommodation and a certain level of entertainment are easily available on board.

“New York has implemented a strategy to encourage tourists to leave Manhattan.”

Added to this is an almost aggressive social media advertising strategy that draws people in 24/7. For example, in preparation for summer 2017, Royal Caribbean launched a social media internship where a selected candidate will be responsible for “finding and documenting the extraordinary on Instagram every day” during the peak season between June and July in destinations such as New York, the Caribbean, Asia and the Mediterranean.

“I think cruise lines need to think about whether they are willing to pay a fair amount for each passenger who disembarks,” says Goodwin.

“Part of the answer is to encourage tourists more to do things that involve spending money when they’re on land. Maybe they can send them excursion packages that they offer, working with small operators to make sure that as many different groups as possible benefit from their cruise passengers.

“This is part of the strategy that all tourism companies are trying to pursue. The problem is that the motivation to do so on the part of the cruise companies is quite low.”

“A Cruise Too Far: How Overtourism Is Affecting the World’s Most Popular Destinations” was originally created and published by Ship Technology, a GlobalData brand.

The information on this website has been provided in good faith for general information purposes only. It does not constitute advice on which you should rely and we make no representation, warranty or guarantee, express or implied, as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our website.