Abstract
As cities throughout the world consider reducing or banning cruise tourism due to environmental and human impacts, it is important to produce rigorous impact assessments to guide such decisions. This study implements a multi-method natural experiment to measure economic, social, and environmental impacts of the cessation of a cruise ship port in a small community. Multidimensional capital asset indicators are measured in an affected (treatment) community before and after the permanent closure of a Caribbean cruise ship port. These measures are also taken for comparison over the same time frame in a control population – inhabitants of a similar nearby community that is not likely to have been impacted by the closure. Analysis reveals that cruise port closure led to overall economic, social, and environmental improvements in the control community. This, along with existing research, suggests that there is a paradox, where large economic investments in cruise tourism enclaves can yield significant negative outcomes for the local population, while the removal of such large investments can yield positive outcomes.
Presenters
Timothy MacneillSenior Teaching Professor, Political Science / Sustainability, Ontario Tech University, Ontario, Canada
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Cruise Tourism Impacts, Community Development, Environmental Impacts, Enclaves, Ecological Economics
