Cruise Tourism and Community Economics in Central America and the Caribbean: The Case of Costa Rica (original) (raw)

The economic, social, and environmental impacts of cruise tourism

Measures community local impacts of cruise tourism. Unique methodology using natural experiment and multi-method approach. Measures multidimensional social, cultural, economic, and environmental impacts. Cruise tourism fails to benefit community in tow-taxation, low-regulation environments. Recommend investment in local community assets before initiation of tourism. a b s t r a c t We use a unique multi-method natural experiment to measure economic, social, and environmental impacts of cruise tourism on a local community. Through the measurement of multidimensional indicators before and after the opening of a cruise ship port, and using control groups, we compare community impacts with greater detail and control than previous studies. Although theory and industry multiplier estimates predict gains in employment, income, and related measures, we find little evidence of improvement. The ability of the local population to provide for necessities and obtain sufficient food worsened, corruption increased, and there were substantial negative environmental impacts. One observed benefit to communities was a decrease in crime due to an increase in government expenditure on policing. Our results show that in low taxation and regulation environments with an absence of community development and involvement initiatives, large cruise tourism projects can fail to provide benefits for local populations.

The economic revenues and the emergy costs of cruise tourism

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2017

Emergy analysis was applied to three municipalities (Portofino, Santa Margherita Ligure and Rapallo) of the Liguria Region coast, where tourism and cruise tourism are thriving. The results were compared with traditional economic indices. The territorial assessment of the municipalities was analysed by comparing the environmental costs with the economic benefits, focusing on tourism and cruise tourism. Similarities and differences among the case studies emerged. The three economies resulted as being driven by the tertiary sector, but consequences from the different development strategies came to light. Portofino has developed an elite type of tourism with greater attention devoted to the environment. This is mirrored by a sort of safeguarding of tourism and natural resources and by the detriment of the productive sector's success, on the contrary, in Rapallo. Santa Margherita lies in a boundary condition. The cruise tourism sector was analysed in these contexts. The ecological and economic impacts of the cruise sector were revealed to be significant only in Portofino, being less than 1% in Rapallo and Santa Margherita Ligure. The load imposed on the local environment by cruise ship tourism was calculated, and Portofino showed a limited condition, while Santa Margherita Ligure and Rapallo exceeded the local carrying capacity. This is due to the different management approaches pursued: only in Portofino is the territory more able to absorb the impact, although the limit is currently reached. As a consequence it appears to be evident that such phenomena as cruise tourism, albeit economically promising in the short term, should be managed with a long-term perspective, integrating them into the local context and setting up strategies for impact reduction or mitigation.

A meta-analysis of the direct economic impacts of cruise tourism on port communities

Tourism Management Perspectives, 2019

This research provided a meta-analysis of the direct economic impacts of cruise tourism, using a meta-regression, an Ordinary Least Square model, a fixed-effects model, and Sobel-Goodman mediation tests. The results revealed a significantly positive coefficient between direct economic impacts and: number of passengers, number of crew members, number of cruise lines, expenditures per passenger, and expenditures per cruise line. It was further found that cruise lines had significant mediation effects on the expenditures per passenger and per crew member at port destinations. Compared to North American markets, the direct economic impacts of cruise tourism on ports in the Caribbean markets and other emerging markets were significantly lower.

Determining factors for the distribution of cruise tourism across the Caribbean

Tourism Economics, 2012

The essential characteristics of Caribbean cruise arrivals from 1970 to 2008 are a strong and stable concentration and the shift towards the Western Caribbean. This paper validates the profit maximizing behaviour of the cruise companies as the determining factor explaining the spatial dynamic and static distribution of cruise arrivals in the Caribbean. A discursive approach and econometric regressions corroborate this supply-side approach compared with the demand-side approach from the destination's perspective. Excursion revenue and distance are identified as explanatory variables of a destination's arrival numbers. From those elements, the paper highlights overarching principles for the formulation of cruise development strategies by destinations.

The Cruise Tourism in the Caribbean Space: Spatial Rationale and Development Rationale

2008

The Cruise Tourism in the Caribbean Space: Spatial Rationale and Development Rationale . The Caribbean Sea is a symbolic area for the cruise. Despite the worldwide reputation of its destinations, the postcards which boast the charm of the region, the cruise industry analysis allows us to spotlight certain limitations and contradictions about its present development ways. The product "the cruise holiday" has evolved considerably: from now on it is the liner itself (consumption temple and floating enclave) which has become the cruiser's destination. Its opening to a mass tourism, the gigantic shape of the ships, the rationalization and improvement of costs within an ever more globalized and capitalistic market are enough premises which need to be analyzed to understand the recent evolution of the cruise and the renewed challenges for the receiving territories.

Cruise market: Stakeholders and the role of ports and tourist hinterlands

Maritime Economics & Logistics, 2014

A b s t r a c t The cruise industry has been dynamically advancing over the last decades with an average annual growth rate in the worldwide number of cruise passengers of 7.84 per cent between 1990 and 2013. The Mediterranean Sea is the second cruise destination worldwide. The cruise market is characterized as an oligopoly within the subsector of cruise companies. A similar situation occurs in the Mediterranean homeports, in which a small number of ports account for a high percentage of home in/out passengers. With respect to the port of call segment, there are a large number available in the Mediterranean. The empirical analysis of the determinants of cruise traffic registered by a port is presented in this article, and the Spanish Mediterranean cruise ports are analyzed. To conduct the empirical analysis, principal component methodology and ordinary least-squares regression are used. The explanatory variables are related to the tourist attractiveness, the port infrastructure and port costs. The primary results of the study associate the number of cruise passengers with the attractiveness of the port hinterland, the port infrastructure and the management of port facilities.

Cruise Tourism in Dominica: Benefits and Beneficiaries

2015

espanolDentro de una zona tan competitiva como la del Caribe, el impresionante progreso del turismo de crucero otorga a Dominica un aspecto simbolico de exito para el desarrollo de dicha actividad. Este articulo adopta un enfoque sistemico y demuestra que tres protagonistas concentran mas de 70% de los beneficios financieros de la actividad crucerista : las agencias de viajes, el comercio del recuerdo y las companias cruceristas. La escasa dispersion del numero de beneficiarios es concomitante con la concentracion espacial de la actividad, como con la falta de beneficiarios macro economicos del sector crucerista en Dominica. Este analisis consagrado a Dominica sugiere un modelo del sector crucerista fuertemente concentrado que se apoya en cuatro pilares : los tours organizados como principal recurso para descubrir la isla, la fuente de recetas para las companias cruceristas, cuyos contratantes (las agencias locales) son los primeros canales del impacto economico de esta actividad co...

Economic impact of cruise activity: the case of Barcelona

Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing

This article shows the methodology and the main figures of the local and regional economic impact generated by cruise activity. This article is pioneering in combining different issues: estimating the impact of the cruise port activity, presenting these impacts disaggregated at a sectoral level, using a rigorous methodology and carrying out extensive fieldwork. It is demonstrated that all sectors, not just traditional tourism-related sectors, benefit from cruise tourism. In order to test and apply our methodology we focus the analysis in The Port of Barcelona, which has become the leading cruise port in the Mediterranean area.