This year has barely started and, already, the first warning shots have been fired across the bows of the cruise industry as more ports draw up battle lines banning passenger ships or hitting them with punitive taxes. The French Riviera city of Nice led the latest high-profile assault last month after mayor Christian Estrosi unexpectedly declared that he intended to bar large ships from calling at the glitzy resort and its near neighbour Villefranche-sur-Mer, which is a popular stop on Mediterranean itineraries.
The swiftness of this bombshell, which the mayor had deemed necessary to stem overtourism and pollution, has left mainstream lines such as Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International facing the prospect of having to hurriedly amend itineraries.
So it seems this is far from a united front. Across the pond, a similar scenario has been playing out at the New England port of Belfast in Maine where, according to the Bangor Daily News, officials have voted to draw up a ban on ships carrying more than 50 passengers. Admittedly, this port town is a minnow compared to its popular higher-profile neighbours, Portland and Bar Harbor, the latter already restricts ship calls, but it illustrates the direction of travel and rising zeal of destinations to either clampdown or cash in on this booming sector.
It also begs the question of who will be next to bring down the shutters. The association also points out that in cities such as Barcelona, Venice and Amsterdam, cruise guests account for less than five per cent of total visitors. Only vessels up to a maximum of 25, tonnes can now dock in the city. The number of cruise ship visits is to be capped at per year in as the Dutch city reduces numbers before banning them completely when a new cruise terminal opens outside the city by The cruise hub has already curbed cruise activity by closing one of its terminals and capping the number of ships to seven at any one time.
Ship numbers have been curtailed following complaints they are an eyesore and cause pollution. Under a five-year agreement struck in , three ships can call at Palma each day, with only one carrying more than 5, passengers.
