The mayor of a major French city wants to crack down on cruise ship “overtourism.” In a New Year’s public speech, Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi said large cruise ships visiting with thousands of guests “have no place here,” he said.
Estrosi also took a shot at cruise guests themselves: “Cruises that pollute, that dump their low-cost clientele who consume nothing but leave their waste behind, have no place here. I don’t want floating hotels to drop anchor in front of Nice.”
Mayor Moots Ban for Large Ships
The mayor’s office isn’t proposing a complete ban but wants to restrict calls to ships of no more than 190 meters in length and a maximum capacity of 900 passengers.
“We are working to cancel all cruises that can still be canceled and we will draft a banning order.” The mayor claims this move would cut cruise passenger traffic by about 70%. Some conservation activists say the planned timeline for this of this summer is unrealistic.
“Venice has regained its beauty and its landscape by having a mayor who definitively refuses cruises. We intend to go in this direction, too,” the Mayor told local press. Estrosi admits the city must strike the right balance as tourism is a key revenue generator for the Nice economy.
The proposed restrictions are also tied to concerns about the environmental impact of large cruise ships. “We have units that are essentially floating cities with over 5,000 passengers, keeping their engines running, emitting sulfur and other pollutants into the atmosphere,” the mayor’s office said.
“They in no way align with the model we wish to develop in terms of tourism, hospitality, and respect for the local population.”
There is local support for the proposal, however, anti-cruise activists suggest the mayor’s proposal is more of an economic measure. They cite the banning of large ships that offer cheap cruise fares but Nice will still allow smaller, luxury yacht cruises which tend to have more affluent guests.
Trade group Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) denounced the Mayor’s comments. “We regret comments made by the Mayor, which unfairly stigmatize both tourism professionals and our passengers.”
CLIA says it may not be a major issue for cruise lines. The association says no large cruise ships are set to dock at the Port of Nice this year. “Furthermore, only three large cruise ships and 34 medium-sized ships are expected to anchor off Villefranche-sur-Mer during 2025.”
Around the globe, other iconic ports are also pushing back against large cruise ships. Dubrovnik, Croatia, has implemented strict limits on cruise ship arrivals, capping the number of ships and passengers allowed per day to reduce overcrowding in its historic Old Town.
Similarly, in Norway, a law set to take effect will ban high-emission cruise ships from entering its pristine fjords by 2026.
