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Cruise Industry: Sailing towards an uncertain future?



 
 
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Old March 27th, 2006, 08:34 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
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Default Cruise Industry: Sailing towards an uncertain future?

To Whom It May Concern:

We came across this information in the trades and thought it would be of
interest to this newsgroup as well. If this is somehow a repeat of an
earlier post, sorry we missed it. This can always be ignored or deleted.

John Sisker
SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY®
(714) 536-3850 or toll free at
(800) 724-6644 & (pagoo ID: 714.536.3850)
http://www.shiptoshorecruise.com




A flurry of negative news about the cruise industry, with this week's fire
onboard and recent unsolved crimes on ships, provides a general picture of
the current state the cruise industry is in and ultimately begs the
question: Is the cruise industry headed for disaster?

Canadian author and cruise critic Ross Klein of Cruisejunkie.com said
cruises' environmental impact to natural environment can no longer be
ignored. Cruises have resisted repeatedly conversion to low sulphur fuels
despite the environmental advantages. Volumes of emissions from ship main
engines can be found in Cruise Ship Environmental Task Force Report to the
Legislatu Regulation of Large Passenger Vessels in California. While
hotels and other land-based tourism establishments have reduced their water
usage, lighting costs and LPG units - replacing them with diesel units, thus
reducing operational inputs and ultimately reducing impact to tourist
product, cruises have a lot of catching up to do. Land-based tourism
carefully chooses the chemicals or detergents to use. They also find ways to
reduce water consumption; while cruise ships are given fresh water, which
has restrictions on usage by local consumers. Klein pointed out the irony
water supply poses.

Further, while cruises conserve some fuel if they can, they have avoided the
increased cost associated with cleaner-burning fuel - choosing instead to
not reduce significant impact. Therefore, cruises contribute to air
pollution significantly when using incinerators in or near port areas. They
also potentially affect marine ecosystems through discharges and anchorage.

Sewage is a big issue also because ships discharge them at sea. Klein said
despite treatment, effluent from vessels has consistently been found to have
excessive amounts of fecal coliform and many conventional pollutants. Some
have addressed the issue with installing advanced wastewater treatment
systems acting on fecal coliform and total suspended solids. Liners have not
dealt with nutrient loading or ammonia, copper, nickel or zinc, according to
the Alaska Department of Environment.

With regard to cruise tourists coming en-masse, since people often travel in
larger groups, they put a greater strain and stress on the areas they visit.
Klein noticed that the beach looks qualitatively different on a day a ship
arrives than an on other days when no cruise passenger comes to Antigua, for
instance.

Conversely, proportional to its environmental impact is its local
importations. Klein argues the cruise business generates less economic
impact to the destinations than do land-based tourism. Distribution and
subsequent importation of items such as furnishings, food and beverage,
amenities, equipment, are generated more by hotels. Cruises purchase very
few products from islands they visit. Distribution and transporting guests
on tours, to and from hotels etc, is less used by cruises. Klein said,
"Given the nature of the cruise visit - an intense 8-hour stop in which
passengers go to see or do something, and they use a bus or taxi (minimally)
make less of an impact to distribution, compared with land-based tourists
given a week or more on the island, mixing their sightseeing with the beach.

Distribution impact needs to look at environmental carrying capacity - the
limited transportation links which could in turn, limit destination growth,
and the physical ability for an island to be developed based on available
space. Either way, the cruise business will have to do its share to improve
on distribution and not leave it up to the destination or hotels to sort out
the problem.


Horace Hord Jr., Royal Caribbean Cruises' regional vice president of
Government and Community Relations, said leisure cruising will continue to
ride a wave of unprecedented passenger growth and popularity, buoyed by a
strong market demand, an emphasis on ship introductions and innovations,
more US homeport availability, a renewed demand for exotic ports, and strong
brand marketing and attention to quality and service standards. More than
10.6 million cruised in 2004; over 11 million in 2005 including
approximately 10 million form North America. About 30 million is predicted
within the next three years.

With the rise in cruising, cultural impact of wealthy tourists and
overcrowding created by large numbers of visitors at one destination will
occur. Said Klein, "Exceeding carrying capacity of one destination seriously
disadvantages tourism."

For example, the BVI complained about crowding on the beach, traffic, lack
of sufficient rest rooms, cruise passengers conflicting with yachting,
long-term visitors and the community as a whole as a result of topless
sunbathing near schools. On top, the people also criticized the lack of
local input or control of visitor invasion. At a hearing in 2004, it was
mentioned that average overnight visitor contribute $485 per day as opposed
to cruisers who shell out $25 per day. Annual BVI revenues for overnight
hotel guests reached $141 million, yacht visitors $100 million and
day-visitors only $9.6 million. It was clear they felt it was pointless to
expand cruise tourism, which justifies neither economic nor social gains.
Hord, however, disagreed; saying that the average Caribbean port of call
passenger spending was $103.88 and average crew spending was $72.06. A
typical ship carrying 2000 passengers and 900 crewmembers generates $300,000
in spending, combined. The Florida Caribbean Cruise Association
representing 13 cruise lines reported that its member passengers and crews
accounted for approximately $1.4 billion in direct spending and $1.2 billion
in indirect spending, as annual economic impact throughout the Caribbean
alone from the cruise industry.
Hord also added it seems that cruising saved the travel industry after Sept.
11.

For one, while people stopped flying, others took to the seas. Many started
making reservations 3-6 months prior to departure, and even longer for
luxury and exotic itineraries. Responding to consumer demand for closer home
vacations over the last years, Hord reported the cruise lines responded by
moving ships within driving distance of more customers.

On major issues, cruise ships operate with little regulation, with virtually
no monitoring and voluntarily choose whether or not to respect an island
coastal waters, said Klein. Klein thinks ships should engage in cleaner
practices and green incentives regulations such as port usage fees mandated
by local legislators.

Economic impact of cruises is limited to the length of visit. While hotels
generate money for the hotel and for the island through local employment and
from local goods, ships don't according to Klein. Hord argued that
cruise-related expenditures generated 60, 136 jobs in the Caribbean alone
yielding $285 million in wages to the residents. Cruise passengers do spend
some money when they visit the island, but Klein added a significant portion
of what they spend is kicked back anyway to the cruise ship, the CEOs or
other offshore companies, leaving relatively little to multiply through the
local economy.

Hord said a high 85 percent of cruisers think that cruising is an excellent
way to sample various destinations and that they may plan a return visit as
a stay-over guest. "Nearly 50 percent expect to return to take a land-based
vacation. This should be viewed as an opportunity of utmost importance to
any destination to convert the predisposed passenger to a stay-over hotel
guest," he said.

As a port increases its reliance on the cruises, it decreases its bargaining
power with the cruise industry argued Klein. He explained that a port free
to let cruise ships pass it by has better bargaining chip than one that
believes it needs the ships to dock at its facility. He cited Key West,
Florida as an over-stressed port - having allowed cruise tourism to exceed
the limits of what the port can comfortably absorb. As a result, cruise
passengers themselves often complain of a poor visit. The volume of
passengers detract from the experience of hotel guests who find the
over-crowding a nuisance. Cruise tourism has displaced land-based tourism,
as a result, bears upon local business. "Those catering to cruise passengers
are doing better than those catering to folks who are coming to spend a week
at a hotel."

About the news surrounding the recent events on cruises including crimes,
strange disappearances and fires onboard, New York-based cruise critic and
Travel Notes chief correspondent Jonathan Siskin said media has not been
fair about it. "Considering 11 million people take cruises every year, the
amount of bad publicity is minimal. Just because these stories made
headlines does not make the cruise industry all that bad. People focus on
the sensational rather than look at the track record," Siskin said, adding
that cruising is the safest way to travel in which very few people lose
their lives.


 




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