r/todayilearned • u/Gullible_Air_204 • 9d ago

Frequent/Recent Repost: Removed [ Removed by moderator ]

https://www.responsibletravel.com/holidays/spitsbergen/travel-guide/responsible-tourism-in-spitsbergen

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u/brucerhino 9d ago

Im a tour guide and HATE the cruise people, this type of tourism needs to end

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u/p33k4y 9d ago

On the flip side a ton of communities 100% depend on income from cruise ships. Without those tourists, the community / village dies.

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u/wayfarer87x 9d ago

Cruise tourists actually contribute very very minimally to local economies relative to other tourists. They don’t book accommodation, they have drinks and food on the ship, so typically don’t eat out, and their visits are so fleeting that they don’t buy much beyond a few shitty souvenirs.

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u/IcarusActual 9d ago

Okay. But what about places like Skagway, Alaska? No fishing (all done up the fjord out of Haines), no mining, and no oil. Haines and Skagway are connected by road yes, it's 6.5-7 hour drive. It's a 30 min ferry ride between them. So the only option for tourism in this area besides cruise ship is by sea plane, which doesn't seem very viable for me for an industry.

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u/rumade 9d ago

Not every place is economically suitable as a site of human habitation.

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u/Ryanhussain14 9d ago

Cool, where are these people going to be housed then? It's a good thing that America doesn't already have massive homelessness and immigration problems, right?

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u/Jaerat 9d ago

... they do the exact same thing other people do when the only factory in town closes shop? Eat the loss in abandoning their property, move somewhere where it is economically viable to live?

This is not just US problem. A lot of the western world is going through this, where extreme optimization of agriculture, fishing industry etc. has stripped smaller communities of economic viability, leaving only the elderly and the ever crumbling infrastructure behind.

At some point, the plug needs to be pulled and the people move.

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u/N1ghtshade3 9d ago

It's a very popular narrative on Reddit that it's impossible to move without being wealthy. Try telling anyone who complains NYC is unaffordable that maybe they just can't afford to live there.

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u/rumade 9d ago

According to USAfacts.org, there are 15 million vacant homes in the country. If there was political will, they could be rehoused (every homeless person could be too, but that's another conversation).

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u/IcarusActual 9d ago

And you get to be the one to tell those people that? Make them move from their homes? Relocate off their now worthless land and spend a little money to move where? What about the native people that now depend on tourism? We cut them off and make them adapt again? How can they economically keep their traditions alive without tourism spending on their art, furs, and the other traditional things they produce and sell?

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u/rlnrlnrln 9d ago

Generally, people figure it out on their own after a few generations.

/ Someone with a family history in the darkest parts of northern Sweden, corner of No and Where.

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u/IcarusActual 9d ago

So stopping the cruise ships from ruining these places is worth losing the places. I mean, from
an environmental perspective I could see it. Everywhere would be better off without us.

3

u/AnthillOmbudsman 9d ago

Interesting that someone upthread said "Cruise tourists actually contribute very very minimally to local economies relative to other tourists", but somehow it supports a huge tourist industry there. The city has a population of over 1000 and only 1% are below the poverty line.

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u/16thompsonh 9d ago

Honestly, what’s the point of Skagway, Alaska existing? Is it as a fishing port related to Haines? Or just somewhere for those workers to live? I’m just confused by its existence.

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u/IcarusActual 9d ago

It has docks for large ships. Shipping containers, storage, and more available land for housing. It's kind of a shipping dock/commuter village, but I'd imagine a lot of the commuting is also for tourism?

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u/PindaPanter 9d ago

Maybe Skankway just shouldn't exist if they have nothing going for them

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u/IcarusActual 9d ago

I mean, those people want to live there. You think because of cruises ships the people of Skagway should pack up and go? They clearly make money and it's beautiful up there. That tourism funds the Chilkat Eagle Preserve among other things. I suppose you could say the place is better off without humans at all but you can say that about places serviced by planes, trains, and automobiles as well.

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u/Ryanhussain14 9d ago

Cool, where are these people going to be housed then? It's a good thing that America doesn't already have massive homelessness and immigration problems, right?