The anger of the coasts facing the boom of cruises – rts.ch

According to the Cruise Lines International Association. In addition, 2024 marked a record in the cruise industry, with nearly 35 million passengers and registered passengers. However, In ten years, the number of cruise lines has jumped 88%, making this most dynamic sector of world tourism.

This appeals to customers: very attractive “all -inclusive” prices. Consequently, floating amusement entertainment and targeted offers for new audiences, younger, whose influencers and influencers promote social networks.

We are faced with massive air pollution

anger coasts facing boom cruises

Riverain growls – Anger coasts facing boom cruises

This tourism also arouses the discontent of people riparian, due to nuisance linked to the simultaneous landing of thousands of cruises, which engorge the city centers. Meanwhile, According to Nicolas Raffin. Therefore, spokesperson for the Transport & Environnement France association, only one ship can issue up to 20,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, as much as 10,000 cars. Similarly, “We are therefore faced with massive air pollution,” he denounces Tuesday in the program A whole world of RTS.

And that’s not all. Cruises lead to other forms of pollution: plastics that can injure marine fauna. ashes from incineration on board containing dioxins and heavy metals or even anchors and drainages that damage corals, details Angelo Sciacca, researcher at IDDRI, a group of reflection specializing in sustainable development.

Anger rumbles on the French Riviera – Anger coasts facing boom cruises

In France. a scene recently marked the anger coasts facing boom cruises spirits: that of Christian Estrosi, mayor of Nice, directly attacking a liner from a police zodiac. He denounced the illegal docking of the ship in the Villefranche harbor, prohibited since July 1 by a municipal decision.

“You are not allowed to be here, you are nobody!” He says to the crew, in a sequence captured by public television France 3. A rare intervention for a figure of the French right. which invokes the climate urgency to justify the prohibition of XXL ships in the area.

A measure since canceled by the French justice. the State, on the grounds that it does not fall under the skills of a mayor.

Nice is not an isolated case. Throughout Europe, several cities seek to limit the impact of cruises. Venice and Amsterdam have already banished large ships, Palma restricts their daily number, Barcelona plans to reduce its terminals by 2030.

The local economy against the giants of the seas

According to the merchants interviewed by France 3. the economic impact of cruises justifies their presence. Some say that, without them, they would be forced to put the key under the door. Others believe that before giving up such a windfall, it would first be necessary to create others.

But this speech is nuanced by the calculations made in Bordeaux, which now sees mega-crosses arriving on the Garonne. On average. a cruise specialist would spend between 45 and 60 euros per landing, a sum which tends to decrease as ships grow, passengers anger coasts facing boom cruises consuming more on board. Direct fallout is estimated at around 1.5 million euros per year, to which are added indirect effects more complex to measure.

The relationship between economic benefits and the environmental cost is largely unfavorable to these

According to Victor Piganiol, researcher in tourism geography at Bordeaux Montaigne University, it remains difficult to demonstrate that cruises generate enough economic benefits to compensate for the nuisances and the negative impacts they provoke. “Currently. the relationship between economic benefits and the environmental cost as well as nuisance is largely unfavorable to the latter,” he said.

Towards more respectful cruise tourism?

Nevertheless, prohibiting cruises in a port without regional coordination may simply move the problem. This is what happened in Rotterdam, which saw the ships flocked initially repressed by Amsterdam. According to Angelo anger coasts facing boom cruises Sciacca. a more effective approach would involve cooperation between ports, in particular by harmonizing the rules on the size of ships, or on fuels.

To limit the environmental impact of liners. the Transport & Environment France association particularly pleads for the connection to the quay: a solution that allows ships, once accosted, to cut their engines and connect to a terrestrial power supply. This helps maintain services on board without emitting CO2 or air pollutants.

This measure, already in place in certain ports, will become compulsory in the European Union by 2030.

Radio anger coasts facing boom cruises subject: Julie Rausis

Adaptation web: Miroslav Mares