Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff Lauren vogelbom here. It seems an unlikely move, especially after an economically devastating pandemic, but ports cities around the globe are snatching back their welcome mats, saying over tourism from cruise ships is more harmful than beneficial to
their towns, and many citizens and small businesses agree. Residents of Key West, Florida, voted in November to ban the largest cruise ships from their port, plus limit the number of passengers who can disembark daily to one five hundred, a number less than half that of early Many say the throngs of cruise ship tourists are causing low brow souvenir shops to proliferate in the city's historic downtown, while the massive ships wreak havoc offshore on fragile coral reefs
and game fish. In the year that cruise ships have been grounded because of the COVID nineteen pandemic, locals say the offshore waters have been cleaner, and some small business owners say they aren't benefiting from the ships either, as passengers typically aren't lingering long enough to patronize their restaurants
in or boutiques. On the Spanish island of Majorca, more than twelve thousand people signed a petition to similarly limit the number of cruise ships and passengers stopping in its port of Palma, noting Palma is the second most polluted ports city in Europe according to Transport and Environment, a
sustainable transport group. The petition also says that the throngs of passengers that swarm through Palma's streets a creed a theme park atmosphere that's causing residents to flee and over In Venice, the Italian city famed for its canals, banned large crews and container ships from the Venice Lagoon in early in part because the ships pollute the environment and a road the city's historic foundations. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee applauded the move, which it had been pushing for since.
Yet not everyone agrees the cruise ships should sail away, for cruising is big business. Some thirty million people boarded cruise ships in twenty nineteen, according to the one State of the Cruise Industry report prepared by the Cruise Lines International Association, which is the world's largest Cruise Industry Trade Association that was up from seventeen point eight million in two thousand nine, a sixty eight percent increase over just
ten years. More impressively, these thirty million cruisers powered an industry that employed one point two million people worldwide, while pumping more than a hundred and fifty four billion dollars into the global economy. And despite the COVID nineteen pandemic that initially proliferated in cruise ships, the report says vacationers
aren't worried about heading back out on the seas. Percent of regular cruisers report that they're likely to go on another one within the next few years, while an impressive fifty eight percent of international vacationers who have never cruised before are likely to do so, according to the report. With so much business at stake, the Florida legislature pushed
back against Key West's cruise ship ban. In April one, the legislature passed a transportation bill that included an amendment taking away the port city's right to restrict cruise ship operations. Backers argued that restricting cruise ships will eliminate jobs and millions of dollars, and cruise related taxes for both Key West and other regions of the state that also benefit from the ships. The bill now goes to Governor Ron
De Santis for approval. In Southeast Alaska, where cruising is a huge part of the economy, the absence of cruise tourists during the pandemic shutdown resulted in a two hundred and fifty million dollar hit to catch a can Alone, a tiny port city with a population of just eight thousand, five hundred and in Galveston, Texas, one of North America's busiest home ports, at the only cruise port in the state. COVID related losses were estimated at twenty three thousand jobs
and one point two billion dollars in direct spending. For the article, this episode is based on how Stuff Works, spoke with Heidi Allison, a travel consultant who thinks that ultimately it's this kind of big money that will limit the number of ports slamming shut their doors, especially after the economic losses caused by COVID nineteen. She said, there are so many ports of call, people in small businesses
that would love to have the cruise business. I'll bet everyone will be happy to welcome back any kind of business they can get. Allison also notes that the cruise industry is working diligently to create balanced, sustainable tourism, but it's not a quick fix. She said. The problem is you have these big cruise ships that, like cars, weren't built in the beginning to protect the environment. It takes years and years to adapt and change, but change is
in the works. The Cruise Lines International Association's report says the industry has in did at twenty three point five billion dollars in ships with new technologies, advanced wastewater treatment systems and cleaner fuels, plus is targeting a fort reduction in carbon emissions by twenty thirty compared to two thousand and eight. The industry is also working toward more shore side electricity capability so that ships can turn off their diesel engines when in port and tap into the city's
electrical grid instead. As nice as all of this sounds, import cities and cruise critics say more is needed. The association is partnering with locales like do Brevnick, Croatia, for example, to better manage the arrival and departure of ships to reduce overcrowding. In this UNESCO World heritage site, and Barcelona is working hard to promote itself as a home port, but it's one of Europe's hardest hit cities when it
comes to cruise, ship pollution and overcrowding. So Barcelona prefers to welcome passengers who will hang out in town for a few days rather than those who drop in just for an hour two. That's partly because passengers spend more money in home ports. The association's reports says that the average passenger in twenty nineteen spent an average of a hundred dollars in port cities visited during a cruise, but a more substantial three hundred and eighty five dollars in
home ports visited before boarding a ship. Passengers staying in a city for a few days are also less disruptive to the area compared with the hundreds that often spill out of a ship during a short port stop than raced the same few destinations. Despite some valid issues brought up by cruise critics, cruising is likely here to stay. Millions love to sail the seas, and many others are
financially dependent on the industry. The key to creating harmony between ships and ports cities As with so much in life, is cooperation, care and respect. Today's episode is based on the article COVID nineteen or Not Many port Cities want to band cruise ships on how stuff works dot Com. Written by Melanie Red Zekie mc bannetts. Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works
dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klein. For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.