Fair Sailing advocates for an approach to cruise tourism that prioritizes the interests of residents, local businesses and the environment of Victoria, Canada’s highest volume port-of-call.
“ There have been growing calls for tourism that prioritizes communities and the environment, in what is often referred to as a “regenerative” approach...It is becoming clearer that the [tourism] sector can no longer measure its success by volume and revenue alone, with net impacts on local people and place largely unintentional and overlooked...The rising sentiment is that current approaches are too often extractive and degenerative, reducing quality of life for residents, damaging ecosystem health, and diminishing local culture and community.”
2024 saw over 300 cruise ships arrive in Victoria with an estimated 900,000 passengers. Their impacts included overtourism, air and ocean pollution, and the import of foreign wastes. The majority of ships were brief evening calls to comply with a US maritime law, saving the foreign-based cruise lines millions in avoided penalties, but resulting in low economic value for Victoria at a high social and environmental cost.
It’s high-volume, low-value mass tourism:
Cruise tourism in Victoria constituted nearly 12% of the total number of visitors, but cruise tourists account for less than 2% of tourist spending in the region. (Stand Earth Economic Study of Cruise in Victoria)
Fair Sailing believes it is time to rethink cruise tourism.
Fair Sailing is concerned about
OVERTOURISM
includes overcrowding, traffic congestion/surges, and noise
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AIR POLLUTION
cruise ships running engines 24/7 contributes greenhouse gases and disperses emissions of sulphur dioxide, particulate matter, NOx and volatile organic compounds
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OCEAN POLLUTION
results from cruise ships discharging scrubber wash water in harbours and oceans
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FOREIGN GARBAGE
cruise ships offload solid and liquid wastes which are transported to our local landfill and out of region/off-island