Cruise tourism

Contemporary issues in Tourism

Nowadays, cruise tourism plays an important role in the tourism industry. In order to
meet the demand for traveling by cruise ship as a holiday option that offers adventure,
relaxation and entertainment of passengers from all over the world, the cruise industry
has experienced an enormous growth in term of popularity, size and variety of
destinations in the recent years (Juan Gabriel Brida, Sandra Zapata, 2010).
Impacts faced by the cruise industry vary from the environmental, socio-cultural, and
economical perspectives. Regarding to environmental issues, cruise ships can cause
adversely affected the marine environment as the waste of the cruise industry is a
main source of marine pollution. There are several types of waste such as human
sewage (also known as black water), gray water, oily bilge water, hazardous waste
and the release of other shipping-related pollutants (Cruise Ship Discharge
Assessment Report, 2008).
For more detail, there is estimated that 210,000 gallons of human sewage, and one
million gallons of gray water are produced in one week by a moderate-sized cruise
ship (Copeland, 2008). The first component creates marine pollution is black water,
consist of wastewater generated from toilets and medical facilities which can carry
bacteria, diseases, viruses, and the eggs of intestinal parasites. The second most
common waste from cruise is gray water, which is the largest liquid source waste
from showers, laundry, and cleaning activities on a board (Clean Cruise Ship Act of
2013 (S.1359), 2013). These waste release to the ocean can cause eutrophication in
which the environment becomes enriched with nutrients and may result in the growth
of bacteria as human wastes are served as food for them. This bloom of
bacteria disrupts the normal ecosystem and causes many problems. The bacteria may
use all oxygen in the water; therefor other marine life will be in danger, even on case
of the death (The Ocean Conservancy - Cruise Ships, 2014).
In terms of marine habitat, there is another waste damage, which contain oil,
chemicals called bilge water. A normal cruise ship generates up to 25,000 gallons of
oily bilge water per week can negatively affect biodiversity and health in oceanic
zones. For example, bilge water as a combination of fresh water, sea water, oil and

metal can poison fish and other marine organisms (A. Klein, 2010). There are many
marine mammals, fish are also killed and get injured or die from being entangled in
plastic bags or eating solid products (Derraik, 2002). The solid waste can be either
non-hazardous or hazardous one such as glass, can plastics or paper.
Moreover, one of the most significant activities of cruise ship has an influence on the
marine environment is the process of burning oil to provide power and energy for
cruise activity, even while at dock. Emissions from cruise ship contain many toxic
chemicals that damage and pollute the atmosphere as well as a result of global
warming and other dangerous problems for coastal area (2013 Cruise ship
environmental report card).
Then there is a growing threat of the declining of the coral reefs due to anchors
holding and ballast water. For instance, a single cruise ship anchor dropped into the
sea and it can destroy 2000 square feet of coral reef (Davis, 2002).

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Contemporary issues in Tourism
Furthermore, in order to stabilize the cruise ship for safety and efficient operation
during voyages, the ship used ballast water to balance the weight of fuel that has been
consumed. Basically, the ballast water is taken from the original port area and
transported to the ship to the next port where the water may be discharged or
exchange. During the process, ballast water discharge typically contains a variety of
marine organisms, especially foreign species, including bacteria, plants, viruses, and
animal. These materials not only can disrupt aquatic ecosystems, but also led to
serious human health issues (Juan Gabriel Brida, Sandra Zapata, 2010).
Recently, the marine environment is becoming a great concern. In the early 2014, the
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has cooperated with International
Maritime Organization (IMO) to give out the strategy to protect the environment.
Firstly, they focus on improving the cruise ship performance from outside such as

using ecological, non-toxic coating to decrease energy, to inside decoration, for
instance change to use LED lights for more energy saving. They also invest in more
efficient facilities for water treatment and reduce air emission (Newswire, 2014).
However, from another perspective, the environmental impacts of the cruise industry
may be positive or negative. Certainly, this industry encourages an appreciation of the
marine system and generate support or funds for sustainable aquatic environment.
Although polluted discharges and air emissions are the sources of problems, they also
become the crucial area for improvement. Over the last twenty years, there are some
cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean, Carnival Corporation have broken the law of air
quality standard and have been fined a lot of money because of discharging sewage
close to shore. Nevertheless, these actions also awaken the public awareness to the
pollution issue and hopefully create the positive view of environmentally friendly (A.
Klein, 2010).
Finally, concerning to the cruise industry and its impact, it is cannot be denied that
environmental issues are key component which have both advantages and
disadvantages. Regarding to the development of the cruise industry today as it gets
bigger and more luxurious, there is a trend that cruise lines all over the world are
actively working to eliminate negative impact to the environment and keep clean our
planet and ocean as well.

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Contemporary issues in Tourism
References
2013 Cruise ship environmental report card. (n.d.). Retrieved from Friends of the
Earth: www.foe.org/cruise-report-card
A. Klein, R. (2010). The cruise sector and its environmental impact. In S. Christian,
Bridging Tourism Theory and Practice (Vol. 3, pp. 113-130). Bringley:
Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Agency, U. E. (2008). Cruise Ship Discharge Assessment Report. Oceans and Coastal
Protection
Division
,
Washington,
D.C.
Retrieved
from
/>Conservancy, O. (2014). The Ocean Conservancy - Cruise Ships. Retrieved from
Ocean
Conservancy:
/>Copeland, C. (2008). Cruise Ship Pollution: Background, Laws and Regulations, and
Key Issues. Congressional Research Service (Report #RL32450), Resources,
Science, and Industry Division, Washington, DC.
Davis, O. (2002). Cruise ship industry's impact on the marine environment. The
Virgin Islands Daily News. Retrieved from />url= />Derraik, J. G. (2002). The pollution of the marine environment by plastic debris: a
review. Marine Pollution Bulletin (Vol. 44, pp. 842–852). Wellington: Elsevier.
doi:10.1016/S0025-326X(02)00220-5
Juan Gabriel Brida, Sandra Zapata. (2010). Cruise tourism: economy, socio-cultural
and environmental impacts. International Journal of Leisure and Tourism
Marketing, 1(3), 205-266.
Newswire, P. (2014, 4 22). Cruise Industry Highlights Ongoing Sustainability Efforts
to Fully Protect Global Ocean Environment. Retrieved from Reuters:
/>Office, U. G. (2013, Jul 24). Clean Cruise Ship Act of 2013 (S.1359). Washington,
DC,
USA.
Retrieved
from
/>
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