Bruges moving to limit tourism

[Turtles06]

This comes on the heels of efforts to deal with over-tourism in Amsterdam 

 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/bruges-belgium-overtourism-cruise-ship-restrictions/index.html

[Bob++]

I am not in the least bit surprised. The cruise companies are going to have to rethink their itineraries. Venice, Amsterdam, Santorini and now Bruges. Tourism is a mixed blessing and the tourists that come on cruise ships are probably the least profitable for most of the local businesses.

[kctwinmommy]

Not surprising at all. When we were there in 2017, we went right into town, getting there early in the morning. We spent a lot of time walking around and saw a lot of things. But by the early afternoon, it got really crowded. The canal boat rides had a line of like 30-40 minutes (our mistake for not doing it earlier in the day). I know, that's not horrible, but it was much less crowded earlier. And the plazas were really packed.

[dogs4fun]

Interesting - though I am not surprised. Overtourism is an issue in many European cities and steps are currently being taken to ameliorate the issue.

[Turtles06]

27 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

Interesting - though I am not surprised. Overtourism is an issue in many European cities and steps are currently being taken to ameliorate the issue.

 

It certainly is, and it is really having an impact on local residents in many places. I still recall a tour guide in Barcelona telling us several years ago that many neighborhoods were losing retail establishments that provided necessary staples to residents (hardware stores and the like) as their owners decided to open souvenir shops and other stores that cater to tourists. 

[ducklite]

The cruise lines have brought this on themselves by bringing in larger and larger ships into these small ports.  I'd also say that many passengers are also guilty of helping to create this situation as they would get off and spend little to no money in port.  How many posts do we see about people wanting to bring food from the ship to eat for lunch, or looking for free or cheap things to do?

 

As someone who only cruises small ships (350 passengers and below) I'm happy to see that many of these ports are looking to turn away the big ships.  I'm also happy that places like Amsterdam, Dublin, Ibiza, and Prague are studying ways to stop the disruption that many stag and hen dos create to other tourists who typically stay longer and spend more money.  I won't stay in Dublin on Saturday night anymore--it's just not worth the noise, obscenity, and the drunks crashing into bystanders on the sidewalk.

[Globaliser]

2 hours ago, ducklite said:

I'd also say that many passengers are also guilty of helping to create this situation as they would get off and spend little to no money in port.  How many posts do we see about people wanting to bring food from the ship to eat for lunch, or looking for free or cheap things to do?

 

That's so true!

 

Cruise ship passengers often pay no or few occupancy taxes to the cities and towns they are treating as free-of-charge theme parks, when those who sleep there usually do (in addition to paying for their accommodation).

 

And yet there are some people who seem to think that cruise ship passengers are always a desirable sub-category of tourist.

 

Of course, there's also another problem caused by the mass tax evasion scheme known as Airbnb.

[ducklite]

45 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

That's so true!

 

Cruise ship passengers often pay no or few occupancy taxes to the cities and towns they are treating as free-of-charge theme parks, when those who sleep there usually do (in addition to paying for their accommodation).

 

And yet there are some people who seem to think that cruise ship passengers are always a desirable sub-category of tourist.

 

Of course, there's also another problem caused by the mass tax evasion scheme known as Airbnb.

That varies by the "host" and the location.  Some cities now require AirBnB to register and have an official permit number.  (Not just for AirBnB, but all of the short term rentals.)  Napa, Dublin, Amsterdam, and Paris come to mind. The last AirBnB I stayed in had a registration number and there was a statement that the required occupancy tax that would be submitted by AirBnB to the city was included in the total booking fee.

[Sauer-kraut]

4 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

 

Cruise ship passengers often pay no or few occupancy taxes to the cities and towns they are treating as free-of-charge theme parks, when those who sleep there usually do (in addition to paying for their accommodation).

 

 

Then the towns need to increase the port charges and taxes for the stopover.  That is what some of these fees passengers pay for in their cruise fare.

[Globaliser]

8 hours ago, Sauer-kraut said:

Then the towns need to increase the port charges and taxes for the stopover.

 

Except that it's often not that easy without coordinated action from different cities and towns, which may not all share the same interest. The city or town that's interested in restricting tourism or imposing a tax may have no control over the port charges imposed by the port operator, which is often in a different city or town and which may itself have no incentive to restrict movements and perhaps every (commercial) incentive to get more traffic through the port.

 

And even if you propose something like that, you may still get outrage from those who think that cruise ship passengers are a more desirable sub-category of tourist, despite often spending very little money: