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Cruise ships represent less than 1% of the global merchant fleet yet it has been estimated that they are responsible for 25% of all waste generated by merchant vessels. This volume of waste produces pressures on the environment, particularly with respect to ship-generated waste disposal at home ports and ports of call. Southampton, home port for both Cunard and P&O, and a port of call for Royal Caribbean Cruises, is the focus of this study. This paper investigates current waste management and disposal options for cruise ship generated waste and the associated impacts of this waste for ports. It is concluded that all cruise vessels should vigorously pursue a waste reduction strategy and for ports to provide adequate recycling, reduction and re-use facilities for cruise ship generated waste, optimising use of local facilities whenever possible.

The economic benefit of the cruise industry on developing nations is important for these emerging economies. According to the Dominica Ministry of Tourism, global tourism is projected to grow 4.5 percent annually, and will generate 3.3 million jobs per year. In addition, Jack Holder has found that regionally, tourism accounts for a quarter of foreign exchange in the Caribbean islands, with over 1,800 worldwide ports of call for cruise ships, most of these located in the Caribbean and Bahamas. Although the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association found that 46 percent of all cruise itineraries visit the Caribbean, the rise in cruise tourism has small benefits for developing nations in the Caribbean. Similarly in the Mediterranean, Nicolas Vernicos postulated that these nations embrace a market-driven ethic that maximizes short-term gain over long run environmental stability, as cruise ship passengers spend little time in the country and the money they do spend often ends up benefiting the cruise line, not the local economy.

This paper's aim is to present an analysis of the carbon - dioxide emissions and waste associated with water and beverage packaging. The assessment of the packaging's carbon footprint (CF) and waste is also considered for all passengers who visit Italian ports on cruise ships. These factors are considered at two points in time (2010 and 2018) to allow for the evaluation of changes due to technological innovations in the packaging sector. Finally, a best-case framework scenario for the management of water and beverage packaging materials is identified to evaluate whether the use of appropriate strategies can reduce CF and waste in this sector. The results indicate that adequate changes in packaging can minimize waste and reduce the consumption of materials and energy resources in the packaging production cycle, thus creating environmental benefits.

The Better Travel & Tourism, Better World Report was produced by Systemiq in partnership with the Sustainable Tourism Global Centre, and in consultation with members of the travel and tourism (T&T) industry to explore how travel and tourism could accelerate its transition to a net-zero, nature and community-positive future. The work received invaluable, extensive inputs from individual industry players as well as from industry aggregators, allowing Systemiq to develop an independent vision, objective fact-base and prioritized action plan for the industry. The Better Travel & Tourism, Better World report is part of a series of system transformation reports produced by Systemiq, including Better Business, Better World and Better Finance, Better Built Environment.

This report examines the current situation of coastal and maritime tourism and identifies the challenges and opportunities faced by stakeholders today toward the development of a more sustainable blue tourism sector.
It introduces blue tourism, the main factors characterizing this tourism sub-sector, its governance, and the legal and institutional framework. Moreover, blue tourism’s main market segments are examined, followed by a review of tourism impacts, and the current global issues that affect the sector. Drawing from a review of the key challenges and opportunities for a more sustainable blue tourism economy, policy pathways are recommended to reorient the sector towards a more sustainable and resilient future.

The Finance Resource Database for Biodiversity (FIRE) helps to close the financing gap for biodiversity conservation by listing over 200 funding opportunities around the world. The resources are both public and private. They include options with a conservation objective, and those with other objectives which also can be used to finance biodiversity. FIRE functions as a one-stop-shop, where a project owner can find in one place a multitude of different opportunities matching specific criteria (country, range of funding, type of entity, etc.). FIRE is developed under an umbrella partnership including UNDP-BIOFIN, UNEP-FI, Cornell University, the Campaign for Nature, the Conservation Finance Alliance and the governments of UK, France, Belgium.

El presente trabajo es un reporte parcial de la investigación “Uso recreativo de playas con respecto a su contexto físico y socioeconómico, el caso de cuatro playas en la costa ecuatoriana”, la cual busca explorar cómo los visitantes, residentes y prestadores de servicios turísticos en el marco de las condiciones físicas en las que suceden estos usos. Así, cuestiones como la forma de la playa, pendiente, oleaje y calidad de la arena por ejemplo se vuelven relevantes y condicionan el uso turístico. De igual manera, se explora cómo el tipo de playa, así como el tipo de prestadores de servicios turísticos existentes en una playa en particular tienen relación con el uso recreativo los usos recreativos y sus contextos permitan en el Ecuador.

This chapter approaches overtourism as a means to analyse the impacts and limits of late capitalistic tourism development in and around the wilderness protected areas of the Galápagos Islands. Qualitative content analysis points towards three emergent themes: (i) rapid diversification of the land-based tourism economy of the Galápagos; (ii) political ambivalence towards the governance of tourism growth and conservation rationale; and (iii) radical shifts in online representation patterns of the Galápagos as a tourist destination occurring through branding and advertisements. Finally, a discussion is opened over the foreseeable outcomes of tourism saturation narratives implanted far beyond metropolitan localities and European urban tourism hotspots.

The understanding of the different conditions that shape the recreational use of sandy beaches is key for their management. This article explores visitors' and residents' recreational use of four sandy beaches in Ecuador in relation to the physical and socioeconomic context in which this use takes place, including beach morphodynamics, level of urban development, as well as the type and quality of tourism services available. Results show that visitors and residents use the beach for the same recreational activities (i.e., walking and swimming) on beaches with different morphologies and socioeconomic conditions. However, respondents also indicated that physical characteristics (e.g., beach size and swell) are important aspects for choosing a beach. Visitors to rural beaches are more likely to consume informal catering services located within the beach area than formal ones located outside. This particular emerging theme should be taken into consideration for further research on management initiatives in the context of developing countries.

Los vendedores ambulantes constituyen uno de los rasgos más característicos y posiblemente son los prestadores de servicios turísticos más numerosos en ciertas playas del Ecuador, sin embargo éstos han sido ignorados en las políticas y planes de manejo costero. A través del análisis cualitativo de entrevistas semi-estructuradas a ocho vendedores ambulantes, se identifica las condiciones sociales estructurales que afectan la práctica diaria del trabajo ambulante en cuatro playas turísticas de la costa Ecuatoriana. El análisis revela cómo la relación entre los vendedores y las entidades de gobierno facilitan procesos de asociación, auto organización y acción con los cuales los vendedores hacen frente a la incertidumbre e inestabilidad ocasionada por la falta de propuestas claras para el manejo de zonas de playa. El estudio además identifica tres aspectos clave que distinguen al ambulantaje en playas turísticas, del ambulantaje en otros espacios: la estacionalidad del trabajo, el conflicto que el turismo ha traído por la privatización del recurso playa, y las distinciones borrosas entre visitantes y residentes cuando los turistas se convierten en vendedores ambulantes para financiarse. Esta investigación aporta a la comprensión del ambulantaje en un contexto del manejo de playas turísticas y proporciona directrices para la política pública.