Environmental group sparks debate over B.C. cruise industry’s economic impact in Victoria

As businesses in Victoria, B.C., await the arrival of the first cruise ship in more than two years this weekend, an environmental group is arguing the industry’s economic impact is not worth the damage to the surrounding waters and communities.

Stand.earth has released a report showing that cruise ship tourists spent $137.1 million on their 2019 trip to Victoria, while non-cruise tourism (tourists who travel by car or plane to Victoria and stay in hotels) was worth $2.94 billion.

“The cruise industry is not the boon to Victoria that they sell themselves as,” said Anna Barford, the Canada shipping campaigner at Stand.earth.

Victoria is often a stopover on cruise ships. They are often making longer-term stops in Alaska. capital.

Responsible Travel Consulting prepared the report. It argued that cruise passengers spent seven times less on stayovers in 2019, which was a record year for the industry before the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was also found that non-cruise tourism created almost 31 times as many jobs in Greater Victoria than cruise operations.

Barry Penner, a legal adviser for the Cruise Lines International Organization, doesn’t argue with the report’s findings, saying they’re not much different than his groups’ own economic analysis.

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He said that the tourism industry has created jobs and money for Victoria, especially for longshoremen who were out of work during the pandemic-related shutdown.

These workers were already dealt a blow earlier this week when an expected arrival was cancelled due to a possible COVID-19 epidemic onboard.

“We can beg to differ, I guess, on whether … 12,000 jobs are significant in the South Island area, but for those families I think they are,” he said.

Penner also notes that many cruise passengers who visit Victoria on a cruise ship end up returning for multiple-day visits, which contributes to the non–cruise tourism figures in the Stand.earth Report.

“It’s a puzzling comment to say that somehow, because cruise ships bring people to Victoria that otherwise wouldn’t come to Victoria, that somehow those tourism dollars and the jobs they support aren’t as helpful,” he said. “I don’t quite understand that point.”

Barford says the report is designed to increase pressure on officials in the city to address the environmental damage the industry causes.

She says because of strict regulations in Alaska and Washington state on wastewater dumping from cruise ships, looser restrictions in Canada have turned Victoria into “the toilet bowl for the cruise industry.”

Transport Canada announced Monday that it has adopted new measures to meet the American standard in wastewater disposal. This includes a ban on dumping within three miles of shore and better treatment.

Cruise operators are being encouraged to adhere to the voluntary measures until regulations make the changes permanent by the federal government. It is not clear when these regulations will become permanent.

Barford says Monday’s move is a good first step, but says more needs to be done to lessen the impact of the industry, which includes greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel emissions into the ocean.

“We’re not saying cruise ships can’t come here,” she said. “We think there’s space for them, but not for their outsized pollution footprint.”

Penner states that the cruise industry has spent two years looking at ways to reduce their environmental footprint, including banning plastic straws.