Any regular reader of TravelPulse, or casual one for that matter, will have stumbled across some of our recent coverage of the various prohibitions on cruise ships currently being floated around the globe.
From news pieces about proposals in their formative stages to coverage of prohibitions that have come into force, there has been no shortage of attention around cruise ship bans.
There was the one in Venice, which wasn't a total ban, just an embargo on ships over 25,000 GRT (gross tonnage).
There is the proposed one in Amsterdam—set to possibly come into effect at some point in the near future—which would see the main dock moved away from the center of town.
Then there's the city of Monterey, California, which lacked the authority to outright ban cruise ships from docking, so instead voted earlier this year to terminate assistance for disembarking passengers. A move that essentially told cruise ships that they weren't welcome anymore.
The latest city to add to the list is the most popular cruise ship port in Europe: Barcelona, Spain. Earlier this month, a ban on cruise ships docking in the city center came into full effect, forcing ships to the southern outskirts of the city.
This got me wondering how far these bans could eventually go.
For the record, I'm not upset over the bans, I personally believe in a destination's right to choose whether they want to host cruise ships and their passengers in their community.
Seems pretty straightforward.
A colorful tiled rooftops of Park Güell, Barcelona, Spain (Photo Credit: ALG Vacations)
What I'm very curious about though is if these cruise ship bans manage to pick up traction over the next few years, could we see a situation where towns & cities start banning other modes of tourism, too?
How about Tour buses? River cruises? Citizens from a particular country that have been deemed to be "low-value tourists"?
Anything is possible, right?
I suppose the whole situation serves as a warning to all cities to listen to their citizens and for all stakeholders in the travel & tourism world to make sure they are bringing positive benefits to the communities they serve—and highlighting them when they do.
When it comes to the cruise ship bans, while environmental issues often sit paramount on the list of grievances, they are closely followed by concerns about overcrowding and a perception that cruise ship passengers don't spend “enough" money in the "right" type of places onshore.
So, perhaps the solution is more economic and crowd-related because those issues will still be there even after the air quality is improved in the city center when cruise ships relocate outside the city limits.
Is there a way that cruise companies could partner with independent local traders? Or favor excursions that offer visitors a genuine local experience?
Or how about slightly less ambitious cruise itineraries that allow people to spend a little more time in the cities they visit? In the case of Barcelona, if you only have a few hours there, that's just not enough time to get under the city's skin.
Give people more time, then they have a chance to peel one more layer of a place like Barcelona back, and they are sure to return to the ship happier cruisers because of it.
There has to be a way to make this work.
Because eventually, there's not going to be another cruise port to relocate to.
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