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The cruise industry is one of the fastest growing economic sectors with constant high annual growth rates worldwide. In 2000, tourism generated - direct and indirect – about 12 % of global GDP and nearly 200 million jobs. Earnings from international tourism in 1997 were 443 billion US dollars and are expected to reach 2 trillion US dollars in 2020. The number of people travelling internationally increased from about 463 million to 594 million per year from 1992 to 1997 (1).

 

International tourism generates different effects – the impacts are positive, but also negative. One of the most crucial negative effects are the impacts of tourism on the environment and the perspectives for more sustainable developments in tourism destinations. Positive impacts include positive effects on employment and income in tourism destinations, but also on the tourism industry as supplier of tourism related products and related businesses worldwide.

 

Tourism destinations as well as tourism industry both depend on natural environment quality – but also on a positive economical and social environment surrounding the tourism centers. But awareness is rising regarding the fact that the positive impacts of tourism can only be fostered for the future, if the negative effects of tourism on ecological, economical and social environments can be limited significantly (or avoided totally) today. The guiding principle of a more “sustainable tourism” is gaining importance.

 

Reference system for sustainable tourism is the principle of sustainable development. Accoring to a definition put forward by the World Bank, sustainable development can be characterized by three principles:

• The rate at which renewable resources are used must not exceed the rate at which they are regenerated;
• The rate at which non-renewable resources are used must not exceed the rate at which renewable substitutes are developed;
• The rate of emissions of polluting agents must be in accordance with the environmental capacity to assimilate them.

 

A more general guideline, which includes the criteria above, but reaches beyond implies: All social, economical and ecological development approaches of the people living today should not restrict the development perspectives of future generations. Transferred to tourism issues, this principle of sustainable development implies three components (2):

 

Ecological Sustainability

This is about the contribution of tourism to more preservation and protection of ecosystems worldwide. Intact nature habitats are and will be an important precondition and the basis for tourism activities. Aware of this, strategies need to be developed on how to conserve resources and to reduce emissions. It also needs an environmental planning concept, which guides the way to a more environmental sustainable tourism and related activities on all levels.

 

Social and cultural Sustainability

This is about the contribution of tourism to more intercultural exchange and mutual understanding among people, despite different nationalities, languages and religions. In the destinations, tourism should enable self- determined cultural dynamics and contribute to social contentment. Tourist are guests in dedicated regions and the regions are not museums. First of all, regions are the habitats for the local inhabitants, and not service providers for the tourism industry. Social responsibility implies that tourism should support the conservation of social and cultural values locally.

 

Economical sustainability

Sustainable tourism is guided by the principle of a qualitative economical growth. In the short and long run, this principle contributes to diversified incomes - taking into account the ecological and social costs and benefits of growth. Tourism can contribute to the welfare of destination regions as protecting local sources of incomes and improvements of local living conditions. Additionally, tourism can contribute to facilitating disadvantages or even to equalling structural disparities of remote areas. Tourism needs to be integrated in the local economical structures in order to maximise its contribution to the regional value added. The implementation of the most comprehensive social and legal standards of most developed states has to be accepted and supported in the tourism destinations. Social and environmental dumping should not be allowed to pay off.

 

What has been formulated above for tourism in general, must also be true for all sectors of tourism – including cruise tourism. Activities connected to cruise tourism affect economic development and employment worldwide. But they also have impacts to the oceans and seas as well as to remote islands where they affect local development perspectives (3).

 

Cruise tourism is an important economical sector of tourism. The total value added of the US cruise industry is estimated to 12 billion US dollars, with expected growth rates of 8% per year. In 1998, about 223 cruise ships carried almost 10 million tourist. From 1993 to 1998 the number of ships, operating from US-American ports increased by 50%. In early 2001, 64 new – even bigger – ships were on order – a significant share of this new vessels were ordered from European ship yards. Until 2004, cruise capacities worldwide are expected to grow by 35%. More than 50% of all cruise ships are dedicated to the US-American tourism market and are operating in the Caribbean, on average, these vessels carry about 2000 passengers. The biggest units operating in the Caribbean today have a carrying capacity of 5000 people (including crew). Some ports of call have 15000 tourist every day which implies significant – not always positive - impacts on the social and economical structures in the destination regions.

 

Cruise tourism needs resources and generates liquid and solid waste. On a one-week trip, an average Caribbean cruise ship generates about 50 tons solid waste, 7,5 mio liquid waste, 800.000 litres sewage and 130.000 grey water. About 75% of the liquid wastes of ships are caused by cruise ships. From 1993 to 1998, about 100 environmental incidents caused by cruise ships were officially registered. The true figure of incidents is expected to be much higher, since liquid waste disposal happens off shore outside controlled national coast areas or within coast areas of states, which accept waste disposal for a fee (4).

Additionally, cruise tourism requires certain infra- and suprastructure in the destination regions. The investments needed to meet the needs of the cruise industry often exceed the financial capability of the destination regions. Once having invested in adequate facilities, they often depend on the cruise industry for decades.

 

Cruise tourism covers various segments of different markets. In most parts of the cruise business, sustainability aspects – in terms of ecological sustainability – are already emphasised. It can be expected that the cruise industry will continuously work on diminishing all negative ecological effects of cruise tourism – in there own interest.

 

Therefore, the supposition that, e.g. activities related to the most important Caribbean cruise market do not sufficiently fulfil sustainability criteria, can be shown in the social cultural as well as economical dimensions of sustainability. But it is not easy to find clear evidence (5). There is no doubt: cruise tourism stimulates local economies. But very often, the real impacts to the economical development in the long run lag well behind the promises and expectations. The relation between input and output, between costs and benefits seem unbalanced - to the disadvantage of the cruise destination areas. Unfortunately, a clear quantification of this imbalance is not available.

 

 

 

 

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