What Italy’s Cruise Ship Protests Mean for the Caribbean

Venice is unquestionably one of the world’s most beautiful cities. As a tourism magnet in northern Italy, a visit to the City of Canals is on the bucket list of many people from Italy, Europe and around the world. It’s also a city that recognises tourism as a key part of its local economy. For generations it has been this way, and Venetians today continue to understand the importance of tourism to the city’s ongoing viability. But recent times have seen Venetians begin to push back against what they consider to be over-reach by cruise ships. So what has sparked these protests in Venice? And what could it mean for the many ports in the Caribbean that regularly play host to large cruise ships? Let’s look now in-depth. 

A City on Water

Modern Venice has undergone a massive reinvention. Once a rich, independent republic and major trading port, today tourism is its primary draw. The city has a population of around 50,000 permanent residents but attracts over 20 million tourists each year. 

Although welcoming visitors from afar has long been a part of the Venetian tradition, recent times have seen growing concern surrounding the capacity of the city to preserve its history due to the demands of the modern tourism industry. The concern reached its zenith in early June when the Swiss-owned MSC Opera cruise ship crashed into a dock along the Giudecca Canal, one of the city’s major thoroughfares that leads to the iconic St Mark’s Square, an attraction past which many cruise ships have traditionally sailed.

Protests followed, with Venetians taking to the streets, supported by the Mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, seeking change that would result in large ships being rerouted. This comes on the heels of 2017 legislation whereby all cruise ships over 55,000 tonnes will be banned from sailing into the city centre near St Mark’s Square by 2021. 

Debates over tonnage and exact sailing routes will continue to rage but all the while there is the question of what cruise line operators can do to allay anguish. It’s here that clear-cut implications for the Caribbean also factor in. 

From Venetian Canals to Caribbean Seas 

Many Venetians also feel anxiety about the future of their city owing to the impact of climate change and rising sea levels. This is an area shared with a number of the Caribbean’s great cities and locales. But while cruise line woes and climate change issues are separate, they do share a common link of requiring conservation of what is held now, and planning for the future ahead.

Although Caribbean cities developed long after Venice was created, this region also shares a rich history and unique culture. Recent times have seen Venice highlight vividly the challenges that one location can face when seeking to serve a tourism marketplace that is truly global.

Responsibility on Land and Water

Venice, like all cities, has challenges; the same aspects that make Venice so unique, also embattle it. Other cities can work relatively fast to address issues with roads, infrastructure and congestion that may affect the everyday lives and enjoyment of permanent residents and tourists, but the heritage character of the metropolis means that change will never be rapid. This is due not only to governmental challenges, but also infrastructure considerations in building within a city built on water. 

In part, the current issues have been the fault of Italian authorities too. Many buildings in Venice are rightfully identified as historic but what takes place within their walls has often gone on with little scrutiny. Due to years of lax zoning restrictions, it was all too easy for businesses to hang a shingle advertising new tourism accommodation, with little consideration to existing suppliers and the impact it could have on the street and city. As a result, anyone looking to make a holiday booking could still find a vacancy, but with their vacation guaranteed to see them joining crowds already packing out the cafes, canals and galleries. 

The Right Vessel

The thrill of arriving at a beautiful Caribbean port is not dissimilar to the pleasure of passengers as they sail through architecturally charming Venice. In Venice, passengers often disembark and quickly seek out a gondola for a new experience on the water, just as passengers do locally with Caribbean fishing boats and other watercraft. 

It’s here that cruise line operators could find great value in partnering with local providers to allay the fears of Venetian protestors. Venice is not only a city of gondolas, but ferries and other vessels able to transport passengers unobtrusively. And if cruise ships can sail for weeks at sea with little interruption, it’s a hard sell to suggest they can’t make some special arrangements for a couple of days when visiting Venice.

Some in the cruise industry may be wary of setting this precedent; that if one port gains this arrangement, all would seek it, but that’s ultimately not realistic. Many historic ports readily celebrate the arrival of cruise ships. Meanwhile, younger locales with less-developed harbours make plans to dredge their bay and expand their docks to ensure they can accommodate the latest and greatest cruise liners. 

Venice’s History and the Caribbean’s Future

For Caribbean nations like Saint Lucia that are right now experiencing a surge in tourism, the experience of Venice is an important one on which to reflect. Undoubtedly growth in tourism is a wonderful testament to a local business community and its country — and is far preferable to seeing a decline in tourism — but truly sustainable tourism relies on pro-active planning, rather than reactive problem-solving.

In this regard the work of the Chastanet government to pursue the creation of a new cruise ship port in Vieux Fort is an example of a step in the right direction. It will ensure that while Castries may long lay claim to being the most popular of Saint Lucia’s ports for a cruise ship arrival, the years and decades ahead will see any stress placed upon it offset by an arrival elsewhere.

Navigating the Ports

With the right reforms put in place, there’s every reason to hope ‘the best of both worlds’ can be achieved locally and globally, with large cruise liners continuing to operate but doing so without risk of outcry from locals. For the cruise industry, there’s now the chance to be a part of it and pro-active in it; to seize the opportunity to facilitate the change that comes in ports, and avoid just being pushed out to sea by it.