Part 4 · audioscript
For my presentation today I'm going to talk about some of the issues facing the cruise ship industry and then some ways these can be addressed. The cruise ship industry has partly been responsible for the effects of overtourism in recent decades. Overtourism occurs in places where excessive numbers of tourists cause significant problems. Pollution, for example, is among the greatest threats to many popular tourist destinations.
Of course, for many places it's a difficult balance to achieve. They want to promote their city or island as a desirable tourist destination, but at the same time, are unable to cope with thousands of cruise ship passengers on a daily basis. The trouble is, excessive tourism is destroying the beauty spots and places of interest that people come to visit. Several cities, such as Barcelona, have responded by imposing a tax which all visitors to the city from cruise ships have to pay. But as it's only a couple of euros, many green campaigners think it won't deter enough people to make any difference.
Bruges is another city which became impossible to navigate at times because of the huge numbers of cruise passengers arriving on day trips from the port of Zeebrugge. The city was becoming like a'theme park', with shops only catering for tourists, selling chocolate, which Belgium is famous for, and other souvenirs. The local council took action to limit cruise passengers to a more manageable level.
Dubrovnik had to limit the numbers of cruise ships after it became extremely popular as a cruise ship destination when it featured in a hugely successful TV series. What it does now is control the timing of all cruise ship entries to the city's port. However, many people feel this measure does not go far enough.
Cruise ships may be unpopular in some of their destinations but they also have an image problem. They've always been perceived as a safe holiday for the elderly, with not much on offer for families or young couples. A recent survey showed that cost is also a major factor in putting younger groups off going on a cruise. But what they don't realise is that compared to other types of package holidays, cruises can actually be good value, as all activities and drinks are often included. And another perception is that cruises have lots of rules about what to wear and how to behave. But these days, most cruises are no longer very formal and behind the times.
So what solutions are there for cruise lines to overcome some of these problems? How can they appeal to younger customers? Well one selling point is that cruise ships are becoming more sustainable. New ships are built with hybrid engines with large batteries which means ships do not have to keep their engines running while docked.
Cruise lines are also designing ships specially for those in the age range of 21 to 45. The décor in these feels contemporary and there are a range of activities on board that you wouldn't find on a more traditional cruise. There's even a boxing ring on one ship, and most offer diving expeditions. But there's also a huge focus on well-being with a variety of sessions of different kinds.
Food is always a very important part of any cruise and cruise ships have had to radically update their menus to suit the tastes of their younger customers. Vegan dishes are standard, for example. The restaurants on board have also gone paperless with menus available on screen.
Unlike older generations who went on cruises largely to get away from everything, younger people expect to be able to keep in touch with friends and family. Many people going on longer cruises also spend time working, so companies have to guarantee wifi that can be relied upon at all times.
My grandparents used to love looking through cruise brochures, even when they weren't planning on going on a cruise. Until very recently TV ads for cruises always felt dated and aimed at retirees. Cruise lines have been slow to adopt the power of social media but that's all changing. Leading cruise lines now employ top agencies to produce first rate videos for social media channels.
It will be interesting to see whether...