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Sustainability of
Cruise Tourism
Development in
Hong Kong
An analysis into the sustainability of cruise
tourism in Hong Kong from a social,
environmental and economic perspective
Sha Tin Methodist College
Chan Chee Sam, Chan Man Chin, Chau Tak Huen
Mak Sze Chai, Ng Yuen Lam, Tsang Hoi Lam
Yam Pui Yan, Yeung Chung Wai
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Table of Contents
Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 2
A.Concept of Cruise Tourism .............................................................................................. 4
1.As a mean of transport ...................................................................................................... 4
1.1 Economic Perspective .................................................................................................... 4
1.2 Socio-cultural perspective .............................................................................................. 5
1.3Environmental perspective .............................................................................................. 6
2.Sustainability of cruise tourism as a mean of hospitality business ................................... 7
2.1 Economic perspective .................................................................................................... 8
2.2 Socio-cultural perspective .............................................................................................. 8
2.3 Environmental perspective ............................................................................................. 9
B.Cruise industry in Hong Kong ....................................................................................... 10
3.1 Economic perspective .................................................................................................. 10
3.2 Socio-cultural perspective ............................................................................................ 11
3.3 Environmental perspective .......................................................................................... 14
Advocacy --- Green Cruises, an Ideal Form of Travelling .............................................. 17
Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................. 21
References .......................................................................................................................... 21
2
Introduction
Over the few past decades, Hong Kong has always been regarded as a
premier tourist destination. With its unique skyline and skyscrapers, thousands
of tourists are attracted to seek a peek into the world-known Pearl of the Orient
each year. The city’s tourism sector, being one of the major pillars supporting
our strong economy, plays a significant role in nearly every aspect of the SAR.
Regardless of the fact that the tourism industry is currently dependent on
Mainlanders across the border, a new direction has been set up --- developing
Hong Kong as a homeport or port-of-call for cruise ships.
In response with public support towards promoting cruise industry, the SAR
government announced its plan of constructing an integrated and well-equipped
port, the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in August 2008. This created a milestone for
the development of cruise industry in Hong Kong by sharpening it into a more
competitive one in the region. As per the American Association of Port
Authorities by Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association, the cruise industry has
made an impressive annual growth of 7.4 % since 1980, with up to 20,335,000
passengers in 2013 alone. By solely reading these figures and statistics, cruise
industry seems to be panacea for solving the existent problems in the tourism
sector, bringing in loads of advantages to the city.
It cannot be denied that cruise tourism is growing at a rapid speed,
nonetheless, it is disputable whether it is sustainable to develop this new form of
tourism. A shocking truth was revealed in December 2013, in which the Marine
of the seas, as the first cruise berthing the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, arrived
Hong Kong. The short inflow of cruise tourists ended up in not a round of
praises and exclamation, yet plenty of complaint and discontent towards the
lack of infrastructure, transport and tourist attractions, which was against the
expectation of most people. This alerted Hongkongeres of the hidden
complications and negative impact involved in cruise tourism while enlightened
us all to think deeply into the feasibility of cruise tourism in the city. Inspired by
the incident, our team has decided to investigate the sustainability of cruise
tourism in Hong Kong.
Sustainability was defined as a “development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs” by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and
Development (WCED). With an increasing awareness towards environmental
conservation, it is essential to exploit resources with consideration regarding the
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action’s long-term sustainability. We believe that it is our responsibility to raise
the living standard of citizens without causing disruptions and negative
influences to different aspects of the globe, as well as our next generation, so as
to ensure the continuation of mankind. To dig into the whole of cruise industry,
we are going to first study the concept of cruise tourism itself, then its practical
development in Hong Kong from economic, socio-cultural and environmental
perspectives
The above figure shows the plan for the Kai Tak Development Scheme
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A. Concept of Cruise Tourism
“… [Cruise tourism is a] pleasure voyage, where the voyage itself and the
ship's amenities are a part of the experience, as well as the different destinations
along the way. Transportation is not the prime purpose, as cruise ships operate
mostly on routes that return passengers to their originating port, so the ports of
call are usually in a specified region of a continent. There are even "cruises to
nowhere" or "nowhere voyages" where the ship makes 2-3 day round trips
without any ports of call…” - Wikipedia
The above quote has summed up the main idea of cruise tourism, a mean of
transport and also an entertainment program itself. Cruise nowadays are
equipped with state of the art entertainment facilities, some may even possess a
cinema. It is often disputed that whether cruise tourism is sustainable or in the
stark opposite, that it is a consumerist resource-waster which only focuses on
the luxury on board while polluting and trashing anywhere it goes. In the
following parts, we will explore cruise tourism’s conceptual lucrativeness and
also some painful setbacks it may bring to our economy, socio-culture and
above all, our mother nature.
1. As a mean of transport
First and foremost, we will look into the conceptual sustainability of cruise
tourism by considering it as a mean of transport. The following parts illustrate
the impact of cruise tourism from an economic, socio-cultural and
environmental aspect.
1.1 Economic Perspective
As previously described, transportation is not the premier purpose of cruise
tourism, as most of the cruise vessels return passengers to their originating port
after a round trip. Nevertheless, the growth of cruise tourism is believed to
disrupt normal cargo shipping in countries with integrated ports. According to
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The impacts of the cruise industry on tourism destinations by JUAN GABRIEL
BRIDA – SANDRA ZAPATA AGUIRRE, the inevitable inflow of cruise vessels
seeking for wafer fabrication or oil refining may lead to a competition between
cruise ships and container vessels for port space. Although cargo shipping and
cruise travelling require two entirely different ports, many integrated ports
nowadays have merged the two elements and attract both of the large vessels.
Since cruise ships can bring direct revenue to local businessmen (to be
explained in details in the following parts), they are more welcome by society.
As per the report, this made it hard for some container ships to berth and start
normal products delivery. By considering the economic impact brought by
cruise ships as means of transport, the possibility of disturbing normal products
exportation and importation can be seen. As a result, the economy of such
countries may be adversely affected, not to mention its possible troubles
brought to community as a result of the lack of imported goods.
1.2 Socio-cultural perspective
Firstly, sociologically, cruise tourism is mainly used as travelling instead of
any other commercial use. A cruise contains mainly entertainments for people
to enjoy during their trip like swimming pools, cinemas etc. A cruise tour
mostly last for a week or at least one to two days, it travels from place to place
by a cruise and people are not spending much time at each destination, but
spending time mostly on the cruise. A seven-day trip costs differently
depending on where you are travelling but usually cost around $15000
to$30000 HK dollars for each trip, paying for all those entertainments and of
course for the fuel used in a cruise. A seven-day trip can be as expensive as a
round trip flight ticket. Going for a cruise trip really costs a lot and not many
people can afford paying such huge amount of money, therefore mostly rich
people would go for a cruise trip. It can be seen that cruise tourism is not really
universal due to the cost. Therefore, socio-culturally, cruise tourism is
considered an exclusive enjoyment for only the most privileged and wealthy
class, barring the majority of the world from having a taste of this
resources-waster. To say the least, cruise tourism illustrates and to some extent
widens the gap between the rich and the poor.
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1.3Environmental perspective
During a cruise trip, tourists take the cruise as their hotel, which provides
water use, food, entertainment etc. These kinds of activities may produce a huge
amount of waste in terms of water, sewage etc. In the meantime, there is no
restriction on releasing wastes in public sea, which refers to sea zones apart
from the sovereign waters and some exclusive economic zones (EEZ). For
example, the waste water coming from showering can be freely discharged to
the public sea. These untreated wastes from either daily usage or entertainment
will certainly cause water pollution, causing the phenomenon of ‘grey water’
which means the area of water is being polluted and cannot be clearly seen.
Moreover, in terms of solid waste, cruise tourism also enhances this problem.
Cruise tourism is a luxurious element and would fulfill all wishes of tourists in
terms of food, relaxing entertainment, special goods etc. For sure, to maintain
the ‘beauty’ and ‘freshness’ of each good, solid waste will be easily produced,
which is not environmental friendly and cause pressure on the government on
dealing with all those solid waste. Cited from Wikipedia, “the volume of wastes
produced (by a cruise ship) and requiring disposal is greater than that of many
small cities on land”, thus a cruise is also known as a ‘floating city’.
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The above figure shows a typical cruise ship.
2. Sustainability of cruise tourism as
a mean of hospitality business
The above part shows that cruise tourism, as a mean of transport, is
unsustainable in all three aspects. Apart from this, a cruise usually provides
guests various services, including dining, accommodations, and other onboard
activities like live band performance, spa & fitness, bars & clubs, and casino &
gaming, all related to hospitality business. Thus, we are now going to further
look into the industry by considering is as a mean of hospitality business from
an economic, socio-cultural and environmental aspect.
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2.1 Economic perspective
Hospitality business of cruise is necessary. Firstly, a better quality of service
of the cruise will brought a better profit to the company. Since better quality of
service, more customers would like to patronize. And so a better income to the
company. Secondly, the tax of hospitality business will help the economic
growth. The tax of hospitality business includes prepared meals and beverages
sold in or by the cruise, or those licensed for on-premises consumption of
alcoholic beverages, beer, or wine. Thirdly, while the cruise ship is anchored off
in some harbor, the cruise line would usually arrange their guests to some
shopping mall or resort. This stimulates local consumption and help the
economic growth. Fourthly, when the tourist went to another country by cruise
tourism, they are paying taxes. And it helps the economic growth of other
countries.
2.2 Socio-cultural perspective
Cruise vessels are all-in-one entertainment bodies which provide passengers
catering, accommodation and entertainment at same time. Thanks to the
enormous size of cruise ships, passengers are free to gamble, shop, watch
movies, and listen to concerts all in the same space. As previously described,
the target customers of cruise line companies are mostly the wealthiest class, the
most luxurious experience is provided. To name an example, you can easily find
designer brands and Michelin star restaurants onboard. The deluxe experience
brought by cruise ships may give rise and further encourage materialism in
society, which is the excessive desire to acquire and consume material goods.
The promotion of materialism is believed to be bringing negative influences to
the core value of a generation, persuading people to blindly pursue material
goods. In a nutshell, cruise industry promotes materialism, which may push our
society into extreme for material products.
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2.3 Environmental perspective
Followed by the rising of materialism and increasing of living standard,
people pursue for a superior quality and top grade of cuisines in cruise ships.
The waste of food will increase as buffets and all sorts of food are offered free
of charge onboard. Kitchen waste is organic waste which is easy to perish. It
will generate a lot of greenhouse gases such as methane and highly pollute leach
sewage which seriously affecting the environment. Meanwhile, cruise ships are
operated with the air-conditioners and light on 24/7, which create a huge
electricity demand. Apart from the electricity and food wastage, the amount of
fuel required to move a cruise ship with such an enormous size and numerous
facilities is large. For example, for the Queen Elizabeth 2, 1 gallon (3.8L) of
sulphur fuel can only support travelling a maximum distance of mere 625 feet
(190m), which is much higher than motor vehicles.
In a nutshell, by considering cruise tourism as a mean of transport, we can
see that though cruise tourism brings economic benefit, it fails to bring positive
impact socio-culturally and environmentally. Since cruise travelling cannot
strike a balance between economy, society and our environment, it is
conceptually regarded as unsustainable.
The above figure shows the new Kai Tak Cruise Terminal
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B. Cruise industry in Hong Kong
After exploring the conceptual sustainability of cruise tourism as both means
of transport and hospitality business, we will investigate its practical application
and development in Hong Kong in the following section.
3.1 Economic perspective
From an economic perspective, cruise tourism can bring many business
opportunities to Hong Kong which benefits the economy and helps increase its
international competitive strength.
Firstly tourists brought by the cruise ships will stay in Hong Kong for a
while going shopping, buying all kinds of local products, souvenirs or
sightseeing. As these favor the business of local restaurants, hotels and shops,
they bring along business opportunities for the local retail business, catering and
service industry.
Tourists will also go sightseeing, visiting the local landmarks or highlights
such as the Big Buddha and the Peak. Especially Kwun Tong and Lei Yue Mun
as they are near to the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, the new terminal that can berth
the largest cruise ship in the world. This favors not only the local tourism, but
also the local business.
The transport system also gets benefits from the tourists. A good transport
system is the key to success of tourism. Both taxis, light buses or buses can
benefit from the bursting tourists. They also help spread the tourists to all parts
of Hong Kong. An example is the mini-bus no.86, especially arranged for
picking up tourists from the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal to many tourist attractions.
Holiday lines will also be scheduled so that the bus or taxi company can earn
more.
Secondly cruise tourism also provides job opportunities for the local people.
As cruise ships will enter and berth at the terminal for a while, cruise supplies,
maintenance needs engineers for repairing and giving supplies. Port
management personnel are also needed to run the business and workers for the
hotels, restaurants, shops and drivers. They are necessary in order to serve the
tourists. At the same time more tour guides are needed introduce the sights to
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the tourists and lead the tour. With more job opportunities, the economy is
raised.
Thirdly, the spending of cruise ships can also bring benefits the economy,
including gas filling, berths fee, pilotage fee, food procurement, maritime
essential consumer goods and clean water etc. The fee is large and it certainly
can benefits the economy of Hong Kong
Plus Hong Kong is between Singapore and Shanghai, Tianjin and other cities.
It is known as “the South Gate” of China. It is also a popular tourist spot of
Mainland visitors. This increases the schedule of the cruise ships and favors the
economic growth in Hong Kong.
According to the news, the government expects the new Kai Tak Terminal
will have an economical benefit of 1500 to 2600 million dollars per year, this
benefits the economy and helps increase its international competitive strength.
From now till the end of 2016, the Kai Tak cruise terminal operator has
received 59 application for berth, about one hundred and three days in total. It is
expected that there will be more cruise ships entering Hong Kong in the future
years. In a nutshell, cruise tourism can fit into the characteristics of Hong Kong
and favors the economic development of the city, bringing in revenue and
increasing economic strength.
3.2 Socio-cultural perspective
As per the Hong Kong Tourism Board, cruise passengers contributed to
about one tenth of the total number of tourists in 2009. With the completion of
the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in 2014, an influx of cruise ship tourists is
expected in the foreseeable future. In order to examine the sustainability of
cruise industry from a socio-cultural perspective, we are going to discuss the
interaction between the mounts of tourists and the local community below
Currently, Mainlanders have the highest percentage share in the total number
of tourists. It is believed that developing Hong Kong as a major home port in
the region can attract a large variety of tourists from around the world, bringing
in diversity into the city’s tourism sector. This can create more opportunities for
residents nearby to interact and communicate with foreign cultures. Through a
two-way communication, it is believed that negative perception and stereotype
towards certain cultures can be minimized with an appreciation towards others’
customs and traditions. Like many other forms of tourism around the world,
successful cruise tourism can facilitate the promotion of various cultures in
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Hong Kong, increasing citizens’ understanding and awareness of cultures
worldwide. Hopefully, cruise tourism can develop a sense of tolerance for
different value and stances, encouraging mutual cultural exchange and respect.
Secondly, developing cruise industry is believed to give rise to the sense of
community of the local. Sense of community, as a psychological concept
developed in early 1970s, was defined as “the perception of similarity to others,
an acknowledged interdependence with others, a willingness to maintain this
interdependence by giving to or doing for others what one expects from them,
and the feeling that one is part of a larger dependable and stable structure” by
psychologist Seymour B. Sarason. The cruise industry, a form of popular
tourism, includes the idea of sightseeing and visiting tourist destinations such as
monuments and museums. As tourism presents outsiders a glimpse into the
country’s most breath-taking sceneries or extravaganzas, further boosting the
city’s cruise tourism can build up a sense of pride and satisfaction in the local
community. Just to name an example, Brazil throws the Rio Carnival, a world
famous festival with plenty of adornments, Samba dance and excitement
annually. The carnival attracts millions of tourists each year, and in the
meantime, promotes the unique culture of Brazil to people around the world,
implanting a sense of belong to the local district, country and nation in the
Brazilians. Similarly, while the beautiful skyline of the Victoria Harbor is
shown to cruise tourists, a sense of belonging, as well as the local identity of
being a proud resident in the HK SAR, can be developed.
Nonetheless, apart from the positive socio-cultural impact, cruise industry
can also bring about unimaginable complications and setbacks. Recently, with
an increment in the yearly number of tourists, concern regarding Hong Kong’s
tourism carrying capacity has arisen. In accordance with Middleton and
Hawkins Chamberlain (1997), tourism carrying capacity refers to “the level of
human activity an area can accommodate without the area deteriorating, the
resident community being adversely affected or the quality of visitors
experience declining”. To say the least, the tourism carrying capacity of a city is
closely related to the level of tourists’ satisfaction, as well as citizens’ quality of
life.
To start with, it is doubtful whether the city has enough tourist attractions.
As per the Assessment Report on Hong Kong's Capacity to Receive Tourists
conducted by the SAR government, an enormous one hundred millions of
tourists are expected in 2030. With the quick development of cruise tourism, an
influx of cruise tourists is soon expected, further boosting the number of
travellers. While the number of tourists has been rising in recent years, there is
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no new tourist attractions offered. Meanwhile, the choices available for tourists
are limited to shopping, sightseeing and theme parks, leaking a variety of
activities such as exploring local history, educational programmes and extreme
sports. The narrow choice for such a mass tourists has resulted in the
overcrowding condition in popular tourist attractions with all people cramming
in the same district. Overcrowding in tourist destinations like theme parks will
cause long queues, services of poor quality and insufficient personal resources,
eventually leading to tourists’ dissatisfaction and discontent. If then, the Hong
Kong’s reputation may even be adversely affected with a decrement in the
tourism income.
Aside from the inadequate tourist attractions, the influx of cruise tourists is
also closely related to the use of infrastructure in Hong Kong. What cruise
tourists need apart from hardware is “software” including a public transport
system connecting the whole city. Currently, with such a large amount of
tourists rushing into Hong Kong every day, our transport system has to bear to
heavy burden of both the local and tourists. This leads to a decline in the quality
of life for Hongkongers as there will be a longer waiting time for nearly every
public service. Although it cannot the denied that the inflow of cruise tourists
can generate a large sum of revenue, it is doubtful whether local residents can
directly benefit from the growing industry. As per “the Economic and Social
Impact of Tourism” by Batir Mirbabayev and Malika Shagazatova, for most
all-inclusive package tours, more than 80% of travellers’ fees go to the airlines,
hotels and international companies, instead of local businessmen and workers.
Under this condition, since the local fail feel the advantages of introducing
cruise tourism, yet suffers disruption caused by travellers, they tend to go
against the idea and in some extreme cases, develop resentment towards tourists.
The discontent of local communities in Hong Kong may then be intensified and
causes social instability.
Last but not least, there may be a loss of authenticity in Hong Kong. As
previously mentioned, the inflow of cruise tourists worldwide can be a new
source of income for Hong Kong, nevertheless, the emerging market of cruise
tourists can also be a cause for the loss of local culture and characteristics. Since
it is essential to create a friendly and comfortable environment for tourists from
around the world, it is unavoidable to twist local culture and tradition so as to fit
or please tourists while trying to earn from them. Furthermore, once Hong Kong
becomes a hot tourist destination for cruise tourists in the South-east Asia
region (it is already one now), multi-national companies will be attracted to set
up offices here. Then old stalls with our unique culture and a long history may
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be replaced by numerous chain stores like McDonald and H&M, which are
identical everywhere in the world.
To wrap up the scene, a proper development of cruise industry does bring
positive influences to society. However, more often, cruise industry leads to a
drop in the living standard of the local, as well as a loss of local culture and
authenticity in Hong Kong.
3.3 Environmental perspective
First off, cruise ships occupy a big percentage of emission of air pollutants
Ocean-going ships release most of the emissions of pollutants, but the actual
figure has not been announced. According to the Hong Kong Maritime ship
emissions inventory commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency
stud, container ships and cruise ships are major emitters, compared to inland
vessels and local vessels, having the largest ocean-going vessel emissions.
Specifically, 79% of sulfur dioxide and 68% RSP are from ocean-going vessels.
Among different types of ocean-going vessels, the one that have the second
largest air pollutant emission is cruise. They account for 9% of sulfur dioxide
emissions, 11% of nitrogen oxides and 9% respirable suspended particulates
However, more and more cruise going to the new cruise terminal will bring
bad air quality to Hong Kong. When cruise ships are berthed, power
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consumption are generally very high . Although Vessels usually turn off the
main engine when parked, auxiliary engines and boilers will continue to provide
electricity and heat for the passengers and crew. Due to most cruises ships have
been using high -sulfur fuel oil to produce electricity and heat, the auxiliary
engines and air pollutant emissions of boilers and other equipment is very high.
As a result, Hongkongers may have to suffer from health problems. The new
cruise terminal is close to residential areas. People are very concerned about
the cruise emissions of air pollutants. They worried that the wind direction of
flowing air pollutants will be affected by quarterly Festival and direction and
blow to the adjacent areas .It is known that inhaling these air pollutants will
cause health problem to people. For example, inhaling sulfur dioxide is
associated with increased respiratory symptoms and disease, difficulty in
breathing, and premature death. In addition, respirable suspended particulates at
high level may cause chronic and acute effects on human health, particularly the
pulmonary function, as they can penetrate deep into the lungs and cause
respiratory problems. Also, the air quality is lowered when the amount of these
air pollutants increases as one of these pollutants , NOx gases react to
form smog and acid rain as well as being central to the formation
of tropospheric ozone. Then, air quality and the health of local residents will be
affected when the level of the air pollutants’ emission are not lowered at this
moment.
Now, we are going to investigate policies on the above issue. Many shipping
industries switch to the sulfur content of no more than 0.5% sulfur fuel which
has brought significant emission reduction to Hong Kong.
The government applaud this effort from the shipping industry, and in
response, the government launched the incentive scheme in September 2012 to
reduce by half the port facilities and light dues of those OGV that switched to
the cleaner fuel while at berth. In fact, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying
announced the decision of the government that they enact legislation to require
offshore boat to transfer oil while berthing in Hong Kong in his first policy
address.
Table: 2007 and 2012 cruise emission estimates ( tons )
Year SO2 NOx RSP
2,007 1,145 1,598 132
2,012 867 1,287 97
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From the data, we can see that cruise is one of the major cause of
nowadays ’s Hong Kong bad air condition. It occupy a really big sector of
emission of air pollutants. It is caused by the non-environmental friendly fuels
they used and the increasing number of ships that make the condition worse.
Although the situation seems to be improved now, it is still not good enough to
keep Hong Kong free from serious air pollution.
From the above data, we can see that implementing effective policies is
useful to lower the serious situation of air pollutant emission .However, it is
also seen that the force of the policies that have implemented is still not strong
enough to solve the environmental problem as the emission of air pollutants by
cruise vessels remains high. The above part has explored the air pollution
caused by cruise industry in Hong Kong, apart from this, the construction of the
Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, as part of the development scheme, is also to be
considered. We would like to study it mainly in three areas: water pollution; air
pollution and waste problems.
Firstly, about the water pollution, building the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal would
bring ill effects on the water of Hong Kong. When the cruises are driving into
the terminal, it will change the original movement of water. Once the movement
of water has been changed, the habitat of the living things in the water will be
changed. As the living things have already adapted to the environment, if the
movement has been changed too readily, they will be sick or even die because
of it. For example, the Chinese White Dolphin will be affected. As the cruise
terminal will be built at the Kai Tak Airport old site, it is near the habitat of
Chinese White Dolphin. Chinese White Dolphin is a species that is being
protected by the government. it is a special and valuable species and the
terminal would destroy it.
Also, there may be another problem. For the cruises, they will use fuel. Even if
cleaner fuel is used, there is still a potential danger that oil spill may happen.
There was quite a lot oil spill accident happened before on ferries or cruises of
different countries. In addition, these accidents brings many negative effects to
the oceans, these effects are still harming the environment and living things. For
example, Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 is believed to be the most serious oil
spill incident. Many animals have died because of this. Although many years
have passed, the oil spill still affected the undersea animals. It shows that it is
possible to have oil spill. Oil spill is the spilling of oil due to the damage of the
body of the cruise. The spilled oil is thick and sticky, it will block the sunlight
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and oxygen from getting into the water and the animals cannot breathe normally
and finally died. In case of Hong Kong, although there may not be such large
scale of destruction, it still affects the environment and living things.
Thirdly, while building the terminal, the construction has produced many
suspended sediment that damages the water quality seriously. Those sediment
are usually sand, stones and mud, these will make the water become unclear and
dirty, it is possible to threaten the lives of animals. Aside from that, the
temperature of the water may be risen by the heated water released by the
cruises for cooling down use. Although it may not be very harmful at once, but
for a long stand, it is dangerous to have the temperature risen as the habitat of
animals is directly being threatened.
The above shows that the construction of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal will
further add bulk to Hong Kong’s environment, revealing the negative
environmental impact of developing cruise tourism here in general
Advocacy – Green Cruises, Your Ideal Form of Travelling
As mentioned in the introduction, sustainable development [is defined as
development meeting the present needs of the human race without affecting our
future generations meeting their needs. It] compromises the following three
aspects: Environment, Society and Economy. Note that a development will
become unsustainable if it disobeys any one of the aspects. Based on this
definition and the study above, a conclusion on the sustainability of developing
cruise tourism in Hong Kong can be drawn, which it is found to be
unsustainable due to the following reasons.
To get started, for the environment aspect, cruises industry contributes the
second largest emission of air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and [Respiratory
Suspending Particles RSPs in Hong Kong due to the using of high sulfur
content fuels, and brings harmful effect to the future residents in Kai Tak and
nearby residents. In fact, the government has launched polices persuading
cruises to use low sulfur content fuels during berthing. However, the costs using
low sulfur content fuels is tremendously expensive than the present high sulfur
content fuels, [while concerning the compatibility of low sulfur fuels in cruises,]
not many present active cruises are using low sulfur content fuels. Knowing the
city is planning to be a mother port of cruises, the pollution may be intensified
when more cruises visit the city which is possible in the future.
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Critics have often bashed tourism as a mean of tourism that is purely
unsustainable and can only be enjoyed by the rich instead of the general public.
In the previous sections, it also proven that Hong Kong has not secured the
necessary capacity to handle these tourists. While it is indisputable that this line
of “conventional” cruise tourism is not something that we should indoctrinate,
yet we shall at least provide a kind of viable alternative to this mean of tourism.
Currently, cruise liners have a capacity of up to 6000 passengers at once. This
has created a significant environmental problem to the mother hub, visiting
cities and the international waters. Due to this colossal amount of passengers
simultaneously appearing at a place, the local ecosystem or society may not be
able to handle. It is legal under the international law to dump wastes in any
waters other than the sovereign waters or some designated areas of the EEZ.
Therefore, it has often been debated that cruise tourism will pollute the waters
of a area. Also in developing nations, a receiving hub may not have enough
facilities to accommodate all tourists. In Panama, there was a parliamentary
inquiry about the handling capacity in some of its terminals since over
capacities were observed. Using this train of thought, it is extremely reasonable
that cruise ships should reduce its size for the sake of the environment.
On the other hand, it is also indisputable that the culture of tourism can be
summed up with extravagance and luxury. The general public was often barred
from enjoying the joy of cruise tourism due to its high price. Cruise liners
should be more modest with a suitable amount of entertainment on board. In the
current ages, the size and the degree of luxury has increased exponentially.
Nowadays, restaurants on a cruise liner can handle 2 times of all of the
personnel and customers on board. Meaning that a lot of space and of course,
food is wasted. Ipso facto, a general reduction in size can help to achieve a
lower causing and eventually, a higher participation.
Apart from this, we believe that there are still plenty of miscellaneous measures
the cruise line companies and the SAR government can carry out in order to
make the industry sustainable. The details are shown in the next page.
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Suggestions Aspects Problems Suggestions Pros
Environm
ent A. Polluted water
discharged
Use it for generating
electricity
1. Polluted water may not
affect the habitats of
animals
B. Food waste
produced
Upcycle the food waste as
organic substance (e.g.
detergents)
1. Reduce the amount of
waste discharged
2. Food on-board will not be
wasted but become useful
to the cruise e.g. detergents
produced from kitchen
wastes can clean the floor
and facilities of the cruise.
C. Air pollution Reject cruises using high
sulfur content fuels through
administrative order.
1. To ensure a better air
quality for the surrounding
residents.
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Socio-culture D. Loss of
authenticity
Develop more tourist
attractions related to Hong
Kong’s unique culture. (e.g.
Walled village)
1. Evenly distribute tourists to
other local attractions, i.e.
to solve the present
overcrowded popular
attractions at root, giving
more attraction options for
cruises tourist to choose.
2. Maintain the local peoples’
own tradition while benefit
3. from tourism, including
cruise tourists.
E. Hongkongers’
quality of life
is affected
Arrange more shuttle
buses to tourist attractions
4. Public transport can run
smoother
Economy F. No direct benefit
brought to the
local
Hire local people to work
on local cruises lines.
1. Giving job opportunities to
local people while not leaving
their hometown for a long time.
2. Encourage culture
exchange on-board; promote local
culture and customs to tourists,
creating a “win-win” situation.
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With the above suggestions, we are looking forward to adding sustainable
elements into cruise tourism. Hopefully, with the constant support of the
industry, our government and every individual, we will be able to achieve
GREEN CRUISES ---- YOUR IDEAL FORM OF TRAVELLING.
Acknowledgement
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the supervision teacher,
Mrs. Yu, as well as our beloved mentor, Giny, for their constant support and
encouragement. Our project will not have been possible without them.
Meanwhile, the support of our families and friends means a lot. We are grateful
to be blessed with all of the above role models.
References
1. Cruise Ship Industry Statistics (www.statisticbrain.com/cruise-ship-industry-statistics)
2. The impacts of the cruise industry on tourism destinations by Juangabriel Brida
3. Hong Kong Maritime ship emissions inventory commissioned by the Environmental
Protection Agency study
4. Wikipedia – Cruise Industry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruise_ship)