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.
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) 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 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 http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/upload/0812cruiseshipdischargeassess.pdf Conservancy, O (2014) The Ocean Conservancy - Cruise Ships Retrieved from Ocean Conservancy: http://act.oceanconservancy.org/site/DocServer/fscruiseships.pdf?docID=102 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 http://ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/606736905?accountid=8440 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, 22) Cruise Industry Highlights Ongoing Sustainability Efforts to Fully Protect Global Ocean Environment Retrieved from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/22/earth-day-cliaidUSnPn2Bknkp+90+PRN20140422 Office, U G (2013, Jul 24) Clean Cruise Ship Act of 2013 (S.1359) Washington, DC, USA Retrieved from http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS113s1359is/pdf/BILLS-113s1359is.pdf ... doi:10.1016/S002 5-3 26X(02)0022 0-5 Juan Gabriel Brida, Sandra Zapata (2010) Cruise tourism: economy, socio-cultural and environmental impacts International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, 1(3), 20 5-2 66... 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 11 3-1 30) Bringley: Emerald... Global Ocean Environment Retrieved from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/22/earth-day-cliaidUSnPn2Bknkp+90+PRN20140422 Office, U G (2013, Jul 24) Clean Cruise Ship Act of 2013 (S.1359)