WHAT IS OVERTOURISM?

The World Tourism Organization defines overtourism as "the impact of tourism on a destination, or parts thereof, that excessively influences perceived quality of life of citizens and/or quality of visitor experiences in a negative way."

What this means in Victoria is the annual arrival of over 800,000 cruise passengers into a residential neighbourhood of 12,000 people. That’s 66 passengers for every local resident. Studies suggest that 50-71% of passengers disembark, overwhelming local streets.

how many cruise ships visit victoria?

Victoria has been a cruise ship destination since the early 1990s, but recent growth has been unbridled. In 2015, 227 ships carrying 533,000 passengers visited Victoria, docking at Ogden Point, which is located in the residential neighbourhood of James Bay. In 2019 that number had increased to 264 ships carrying 700,00 passengers and 300,000 crew.

In 2022, Ogden Point received 330 ships with 715,000 passengers. In addition to more ships, larger ships are becoming the norm, several carrying over 5,000 passengers.

The 2023 schedule expects 330 cruise ships to arrive in Victoria, with an estimated 850,000 passengers.

A study of 2015 traffic volume showed that the streets of James Bay were already at capacity, yet since then, cruise ship calls, and the related traffic from buses, taxis, non-motorized vehicles, and additional pedestrian traffic has increased. From 2015 to 2020, planned ship arrivals increased 24%, and planned passenger arrivals increased 44%.

do you want to ban cruise ships?

Not at all. Residents enjoy interacting with stay-over tourists; giving directions, suggesting restaurants or speciality stores, or just getting to know each other. The James Bay Neighbourhood Plan acknowledges the positive contribution of tourism to our community and the City. Tourism has been part of the James Bay neighbourhood and Victoria for over 100 years - until recently, James Bay hosted more visitor overnight accommodation than downtown. 

But we are overwhelmed by the unrestricted growth of cruise ship tourism into our neighbourhood. We want a sensible plan that allows for sustainable and responsible cruise ship tourism in Victoria while respecting local residents.

AREN’T CRUISES GOOD FOR BUSINESS?

Some ‘destinations’ and downtown businesses benefit; most downtown businesses do not see many or even any cruise passengers. Cruise tourism is in direct competition with traditional hospitality tourism: low-yield mass tourism does not support local mid-or-upscale restaurants or retail.

In 2022, almost 60% of ships arrived after 6pm, with an average arrival time of 7:30pm, after most attractions and stores have closed.

In 2023, the majority of ships are expected to arrive after 7pm, continuing the practice of cruise ships arriving to meet only their own requirements.

Cruise passengers who have already dined on-board and simply want to walk around after businesses are closed are very different from hotel-based stay-over tourism when visitors stay from a few days to several weeks and contribute significantly to a range of local businesses. 

This is reflected in low cruise tourist spending, which represents less than 2% of overall tourist spending in the area.

What are some of the effects of overtourism?

Over the past 15 years, cruise tourism has altered the tourist-resident relationship in James Bay from positive interactions to negative impacts.

Studies from 2009 and 2011 showed that James Bay community noise levels effectively doubled with cruise ships in port. Noise includes ship generators and ship vibrations, sound systems, horns and traffic. Ships often do not leave until almost midnight and continue to sound horns for marine safety requirements for up to an hour after leaving. The resultant noise impacts do not respect “quiet hours”, the period for residents to have predictable quality time for sleep. 

Road traffic during cruise season has a significant impact on the quality of life for James Bay residents.  Studies identified traffic surges and speeding attributable to cruise activity from Ogden Point to downtown when 2-3 ships arrived during the same hour. 

A study of 2015 ship arrivals showed that James Bay streets, and several intersections, were at traffic capacity. Yet from 2015 to 2020, planned ship arrivals increased 24%, and planned passenger arrivals increased 44%, stressing already overloaded local streets.

why are cruise ships a problem in victoria?

In 2014, the President of CLIA (Cruise Line International Association) acknowledged that Ogden Point is uniquely adjacent to a residential neighbourhood and cautioned against too many ships in port in one day. The cruise industry itself identified limiting the number of ships and staggering arrivals and departures as important steps towards sustainable healthy tourism in other cities.

Aren’t Cruise lines committed to sustainable tourism?

‘Sustainable’ tourism and ‘regenerative’ tourism are concepts that cruise lines have adopted in marketing campaigns, but in practice, cruise ships have a negative impact that harm the port communities they claim to respect.

Cruise ships are known to bring overcrowding, noise, traffic, and air and ocean pollution to ports-of-call, and these actions are contrary to many industry talking points.

For example, CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association, a cruise industry trade association) notes that “cruise lines carefully follow waste management and recycling practices to prevent waste in oceans.”

In reality, in 2016 five of Carnival’s Princess Line ships were found to use equipment to circumvent pollution control systems. Four of the five found to be purposely polluting the oceans had been port-of-call ships in Victoria. 

In addition to the $40 million fine for dumping oily waste into the ocean, Carnival’s Princess Cruises pleaded guilty to seven felony charges, relating to what US officials called “a campaign of obstruction in an effort to hide the deliberate pollution.”  In 2020 a court found Carnival had violated the terms of its 2016 probation, and assessed a further $20 million in fines.

In 2022, Carnival’s Princess Cruises was found to have violated probation due to its criminal conviction for environmental crimes a second time.

This does not indicate a genuine commitment to the principles of ‘sustainability’ claimed as core values. Fair Sailing believes that industry adoption of our Action Plan would be a step towards proving a real commitment.

We expect the cruise industry to truly ‘do no harm.’ It’s only fair.

what are other cities doing?

Globally, port cities have experienced overtourism, and many communities around the world are demanding environmental accountability and local review.  Limiting the number of cruise ships in port and staggering arrivals and departures are important and impactful approaches. Bergen (Norway), Venice (Italy), Dubrovnik (Croatia) are among those enacting limits on cruise ships, following the principle of ‘do no harm’ and respect the quality of life of local residents. Barcelona’s mayor has pledged to restrict the number of cruise ships allowed to dock in the city, saying: “We don’t have infinite capacity.”

New and emerging sustainable tourism models that focus on full transparency and shared values are being created.  James Bay and Victoria can learn from other jurisdictions that are addressing overtourism created by the unbridled growth of cruise tourism.