How European port cities can coexist with cruises

The question

Which strategies, at different territorial scales, can enable European port cities to coexist sustainably with cruise tourism, limiting its negative effects and maximising local benefits?

The method

Qualitative observation and systematisation of policies and planning documents (international charters, urban and tourism plans, local authority documents, public-private guidelines, literature) in five selected European port cities: Barcelona, Venice, Dubrovnik, Lisbon and Amsterdam. No primary data.

What the study finds

57.6%cruise-to-tourist ratio in Dubrovnik, indicativeBy the authors' calculation from mixed sources (2018 data), the ratio of cruise passengers to tourists differs widely across the case cities: 57.6% in Dubrovnik, 43.4% in Barcelona, 29.7% in Venice, against 7.6% in Lisbon and 5.1% in Amsterdam. The figure is indicative.

5 strategiesto combine for tourist port citiesFrom the analysis of the five cities' policies, five strategies to be combined emerge: knowing cruise passengers' behaviour and movements; strengthening local identity; extending the cruise economy to the regional scale; spreading visitors to other parts of the city; and making the most of the port's industrial heritage.

max 2 shipsa day in DubrovnikThe authors group responses to congestion into three policy types: limiting disembarkations (for instance Amsterdam, which stops ships docking in the centre, and Dubrovnik, with at most two ships a day); destination management to stabilise numbers and raise their value; and promoting alternative resources to relieve the busiest routes.

Knowing cruise passengers' movements is the first strategy, described as a key factor for planning the city, transport and itineraries. The authors cite GPS tracking, Amsterdam's crowd monitoring and Barcelona's tourist mobility plan, and point to the advantages of information sharing among cruise lines, ports and operators.
To extend the cruise economy inland, the authors consider it necessary to have a sustainable tourist mobility model that does not rely solely on tour-operator excursions and is based on public transport plus bicycles for tourists, turning the surrounding area into a 'destination region'.
The authors admit that dispersal policies have limited effect, since the most famous places keep drawing crowds (p. 11), and that asking visitors to skip landmark sites is unrealistic (p. 15).

Why it matters for ports and cities

It sorts the urban policy levers available for managing cruise calls, from monitoring flows to spreading them across the territory. It stresses that knowing passenger movements is key to planning the other measures, and that local authorities, ports and cruise lines need to work together.

Limitations

A qualitative approach based on documents and on the authors' experience; the authors themselves state that the strategies are not backed by a solid data base and that quantitative research on the effect of policies is needed. Climate and emissions issues are excluded.

Full reference and source

Andrade, M.J., Costa, J.P., Jiménez-Morales, E. (2021). Challenges for European Tourist-City-Ports: Strategies for a Sustainable Coexistence in the Cruise Post-COVID Context. Land (MDPI), 10, 1269.

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Summary written by the ODYBOAT Observatory in our own words. Tables and figures belong to the authors.