Cruise ship levies - design, implementation and impacts: international evidence review

4. Other Jurisdictions

This section summarises the evidence on cruise ship levies and other management strategies in relation to cruise tourism from other international jurisdictions. In contrast to the cases outlined in the previous section, where the cruise levies were all applied by city or municipal administrations, the following cases are those where a levy has been applied or considered at regional, state, or national level.

This section will begin by examining other European jurisdictions before moving on to summarise evidence from North American and other international jurisdictions.

4.1 Other European Jurisdictions

4.1.1 Norway

According to Sandven, Jørgensen, and Wassler (2024) the cruise industry plays a pivotal role in Norwegian tourism. Norway and other North Atlantic destinations are growing in popularity as cruising destinations (Innovation Norway, 2019; Bogason et al., 2021). Innovation Norway’s (2019) survey also found that cruise tourism occupies a larger market share than all other forms of tourism in Norway. Research by Wigger and Olsen (2024) found that in the Lofoten Islands, nearly 90,000 cruise passengers went ashore in 2019, which is 3.75 times higher than the population of the islands. Stavanger, another popular destination within Norway, hosted 234 ships and 454,000 passengers that same year (Bergem and Knudsen, 2020)

In various regions in Norway, concerns regarding tourism levels have been expressed, such as overcrowding of popular trails and negative environmental impacts (Bogason et al., 2021). Hoarau-Heemstra et al., (2020), found that local communities cited further concerns specific to cruise tourism – these included the high investment costs for the development of harbour facilities versus the reported low return on investment for those facilities, overcrowding, infrastructure congestion and the loss of local identity. Innovation Norway’s 2019 survey of both residents and cruise tourists found evidence of overtourism. In that survey, 67% of tourists surveyed answered “yes” when asked if places in the locality of Flam felt crowded, and when Norwegians were asked if there were too many cruise tourists 61% of respondents living in the areas where cruise tourism is common felt that there were too many cruise tourists where they live; compared with 28% of respondents nationally (Innovation Norway, 2019).

Several studies highlighted that there was support in the country for a tourist tax or other intervention measures. Wigger and Olsen (2024) reported that several stakeholders interviewed in their study were positive about the implementation of a tourist tax to co-finance infrastructure and continued use of common resources. Bogason et al., (2021) mention that the introduction of a specific cruise passenger tax has been discussed as a possible initiative to regulate cruise traffic and ensure that the industry pays some of the costs related to use of common infrastructure and its impact on nature. In areas where cruise tourism is common, Innovation Norway (2019) found that an increasing number of Norwegians surveyed agreed a tourist tax should be introduced in Norway (44% in 2018 increasing to 65% in 2019).

Currently, there are some strategies in place to manage tourist numbers and environmental impacts related to cruises. In the Lofoten Islands, there are rules about the maximum number of cruise passengers per day, with each of the islands in the archipelago setting different limits on numbers based on what the towns and harbours can accommodate (Wigger and Olsen, 2024). In 2020, Norway implemented the Environmental Port Index, which differentiated pricing for cruise ships based on how ‘clean’ a cruise ship is (Sandven, Jørgensen, and Wassler, 2024) and many Norwegian harbours have introduced economic incentives and discounts on mooring fees for operators who comply (Wigger and Olsen, 2024). However, to date, neither a tourist tax nor a cruise ship levy have been implemented.

According to news reports this is set to change in 2025. As part of Norway’s budget agreement for 2023, the government committed to proposing a tourist tax during 2023 that would be introduced in 2024 (Nikel, 2022). However, more recent reports from November 2024 outline that the tax will not come into effect until 2025, as the proposals for the tax are under consultation until January 2025 (Nikel, 2024). Due to its recent introduction, data on the tax is minimal and subject to change prior to the parliamentary vote. However, reports from both Nikel (2024) and Restelica (2024) outline that the aim of the tax will be to help finance tourism-related public goods and services where the use would increase the number of visitors, such as toilet provisions or improvements to walking/hiking trails. The current proposal will allow municipalities to charge up to 5% on accommodation costs including hotels, campsites, Airbnb, and cruise ships (Nikel, 2024). No information regarding the administration or collection of the funds was found at the time of this review.

4.1.2 Iceland

Like Norway, Iceland is becoming an increasingly popular cruise destination. According to Fridriksson, Wise and Scott (2020) cruise ship arrivals in Iceland grew 91% between 2015 and 2019. This data is supported by Wang and Chambers (2023) whose research found that calls in Icelandic ports rose from 285 calls in 2014 to 876 in 2019. In Iceland many remote communities have voiced opposition to cruise tourism because of perceived environmental risks, such as pollution, and the strain on inhabitants and infrastructure (Fridriksson, Wise and Scott, 2020).

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic Iceland had an “occupancy” or “accommodation tax”, first introduced in 2012, that applied to all hotel and accommodation facilities (Directorate of Internal Revenue, 2024). The accommodation tax was suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic, however at the end of 2023, the Government of Iceland (2023) outlined that the tax would be reimposed in 2024 with changes, including the addition of a new fee to be applied to cruise ships specifically. Details of this fee are found in the table below:

Table 7

Amounts: 1000 ISK (Icelandic Kroner) per unit (room) per night for accommodation on board a cruise ship within the state’s customs area

Applies to: All passenger cruise ships docking at an Icelandic Port

Does not apply to: Any accommodation sold in 2023 or earlier even if delivered in 2024, provided it was fully paid Ships in emergency or distress Accommodation available to the ship’s crew and other ship personnel

(Source: North Atlantic Agency, 2024; Payne, 2024)

The Director of Internal Revenue (2023) outlines that the cruise ship operators are to collect the tax for the nights they are within the customs areas of Iceland and all fees are due on or prior to the ship’s scheduled disembarkation from the port. The North Atlantic Agency, the network of port agents in Iceland, outlines that cruise ship operators will submit a report to the Tax Office on the number of overnight stays sold during the accounting period and report the payment of the tax to the Treasury Collector, on the due date at the latest. If the due date is on a public holiday or weekend, it will transfer to the following weekday and reports for accommodation tax must be done in the form issued by the Director of Internal Revenue (North Atlantic Agency, 2024).

There was limited evidence of how collected funds are allocated, although one report did cite Iceland’s Prime Minister as stating that the funds would contribute to sustainability programs and in helping the government achieve Iceland’s goal of carbon-neutrality by 2040 (Shabani, 2024).

Impacts of and Changes to the Levy

No evidence of any changes to the levy were found and data on the impacts of the levy either on ports of call or on local communities was also limited. Only one news report mentioned that Cruise Iceland did not report any cancellations or changes in planned trips due to the taxation but anticipated that some of the “most sensitive” or those trips that were not fully booked or involved many harbour calls would change (Payne, 2024).

4.1.3 Greece

Greece has long been one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Mediterranean (Kovačić, and Silveira, 2020). Prior to 2012 the law of cabotage meant that cruise companies were prohibited from embarking and disembarking tourists in Greek ports unless under the Greek flag (Papadopoulou, 2020). Since the removal of this law, in line with the growth patterns of the cruise industry, passenger arrivals have continued to grow, with over 5 million arrivals in 2019, an increase of 15% from the previous year (Papadopoulou, 2020). Despite this growth, most cruise calls in Greece are transit calls (Evangelia, Panagiota and Charikleia, 2019) and some islands receive significantly more calls than others. A 2013 study by Richard, Eleni and Christine (2013) on the small island of Chios found little evidence of cruise tourism while that same year, the island of Rhodes anticipated 600,000 cruise arrivals.

Greece has had a tourist tax since 2018, which is charged per room, per night at rates that vary from 0.50 to 4 euro per night, based on the ratings of the accommodation and the season. (Goktas and Polat, 2019). However, changes to the tourist tax have been reported over the last two years. These changes to the tourist tax included rebranding the tax as a climate crisis resilience fee (Hellenic Republic, 2023) and an update to include a new fee for cruise ships (Reuters, 2024).

It should be noted that no official statement on the cruise tax was available at the time of this review; however, media reports state that the Greek Parliament has passed a bill which imposes a 5 euro levy for all destinations, except Santorini and Mykonos, where the levy will be 20 euro levy (Reuters, 2024). Other news reports cited the Greek Prime Minister as stating that "Cruise shipping has burdened Santorini and Mykonos, and this is why we are proceeding with interventions" and that part of the revenues from the cruise ship tax would be returned to communities for investments in infrastructure (Maltezou 2024). According to Papadopoulou (2020), both Santorini and Mykonos are amongst the top five most visited ports in the country. In 2023, the Hellenic Ports Association reported 800 cruise ship calls on Santorini and 750 on Mykonos. (Tourism Society, 2024)

It was unclear from available research how the levy will be processed; however, the current climate resilience fee on accommodations is paid by the accommodation owners or agents through the Independent Authority for Public Revenue and their online payment portal (Hellenic Republic, 2023). There is also some evidence that, beginning in 2025, some ports such as the Municipal Port fund of Thira (on Santorini) will limit the number of passengers and cruise ship arrivals. In Santorini the Port’s rules and regulations for 2025 state that they will not exceed 8,000 passengers/visitors on the same day (Municipal Port fund of Thira, 2024). For 2025, these visitor numbers will be calculated based on an assumed 80% capacity per ship, but in 2026 this will be based on 100% capacity. (Municipal Port fund of Thira, 2024)

4.1.4 Balearic Islands

Of the jurisdictions covered by this review, the Balearic Islands in Spain was one of the earliest regions to introduce a tourism tax, the Ecotax which operated for just two years in 2002 and 2003 (Cardona, Fernández and Criado, 2019). The Ecotax was repealed in 2003, partially due to negative responses from tourists and businesses that felt this was a predatory tax (Verbitsky, 2015). Since the repeal of the Ecotax, tourism in the Balearic Islands has continued to grow. MedCruise findings suggested that passenger movement in the Balearic Islands increased by 36.93% in 2017 (Evangelia, Panagiota and Charikleia, 2019), and the following year, the islands welcomed 45 cruises in the first three months of 2018 (Whitehead, 2018). Tourism now accounts for 45% of the Balearic GDP and the bulk of the economy revolves around services linked to tourism and the related property market (Valdivielso and Moranta, 2020).

Beginning in 2014, there were increasing signs of protests against overtourism and anti-tourist graffiti appearing in public and the following year the regional, island and city governments began to act to regulate holiday rentals and introduce a tourism tax (Valdivielso and Moranta, 2020). Following a regional election and the installation of a new regional government, and the popularisation of tourist taxes in other parts of Spain, a new tourist tax was introduced on 1 July 2016 (Rosselló Nadal and Sansó Rosselló, 2017). The tax, called the Sustainable Tourism Tax, applied to all tourist accommodation on the island and included a provision for cruise ships (Cardona, Fernández and Criado, 2019). Table 8 below outlines the original details of the fee for cruise ship passengers.

Table 8

Amounts: 1 euro per person per night

Applies to: All cruise ship passengers staying in port overnight

Does not apply to: Children under 16 years of age Cruise ships whose homeport is on one of the Islands After 9 days, the rate is reduced by 50%

(Sources: Rosselló Nadal and Sansó Rosselló, 2017; Cardona, Fernández, and Criado, 2019)

The tax is paid to the Balearic Tax Agency by cruise ship operators using what the agency calls the Objective Estimation System (Balearic Tax Agency, 2018). According to the Balearic Islands government, they then use the tax to protect and preserve the environment, promote sustainable and low-season tourism, repair historic buildings and archaeological sites, fund climate and tourism related research and help improve off-season employment through training and education (Government of the Balearic Islands, 2024). During the first two years the tax was used to finance sanitation works and low-impact tourism promotions (Cardona, Fernández, and Criado, 2019).

Impacts of and Changes to the Levy

In 2017, the rates for the Sustainable Tourism Tax were updated and a new price structure was introduced, one for the low season (November-April) and another for the high season (May-October) (Government of the Balearic Islands, 2024). During the low season, the cruise ship fee is set to 0.50 euro. The fee rises to 2 euro during the high season (Government of the Balearic Islands, 2024). Additionally, the Government also changed the rules surrounding how the tax is calculated. Prior to 2024, the tax was only applied to cruise passengers where the ships remained in port overnight. However, now all cruise ship dockings are considered as a "tourist stay" regardless of the number of hours of stay and, therefore all cruise ship passengers are subject to the application of the tax (Government of the Balearic Islands, 2024).

According to Cardona, Fernández, and Criado (2019), cruise passengers surveyed had little issue paying the tax and surveyed residents preferred that the tax be used to restore cultural heritage, conservation of natural spaces and provide improvements to infrastructure and public spaces. During their research, they found that there has been no appreciable variation in the amount of tourists visiting the islands since the introduction of the Sustainable Tourism Tax. (Cardona, Fernández, and Criado, 2019)

4.2 North American Jurisdictions

4.2.1 USA

Compared to other nations, there have been relatively few legal or regulatory limits placed on tourism in the United States (Solomon, 2024). According to Solomon (2024) and Mak (2008), this is due to constitutional issues that prevent and limit state and local government’s ability to legislate tax regulations. Therefore, to date, no comprehensive “visitor impact fee” system exists in the US (Solomon, 2024).

However, the state of Alaska was successful at introducing new taxes that applied specifically to cruise ships within certain contexts. In the American cruise tourism market, Alaska is one of the most popular states. In the early 2000s, nearly a million passengers visited Alaska each year (Mak, 2008). Beginning in 2006, Alaska introduced four new taxes levied on cruise tourism which included an onboard gambling tax for cruise ship casinos operating within state waters (Ringer, 2010) and a passenger head tax (Mak, 2008). Details of the head tax are outlined in the table below.

Table 9

Amounts: 46 United States Dollar (USD) per passenger per voyage

Applies to: All cruise ship passengers on a ship berthing at any Alaska Port

Does not apply to: No evidence of exemptions

(Source: Mak, 2008)

In addition to the “head tax”, the state of Alaska also imposed another $4 USD tax, which was then levied on the cruise ship for each berth to pay for the on-board pollution monitoring “Ocean Ranger” programme, bringing the total tax-level fee to $50 USD per passenger (Mak, 2008).

Additionally, separate from the state level, several municipalities in Alaska have since enacted their own cruise ship fees. Voters in Juneau, Alaska successfully passed a $5 USD head tax called the “Marine Passenger Fee” applied to every passenger landing in the city. According to City ordinance Chapter 69.20.005, the purpose of the Marine Passenger Fee is as follows: ‘It is the purpose of the fee imposed under this chapter to address the costs to the City and Borough for services and infrastructure usage by cruise ship passengers visiting Juneau, including emergency services, transportation impacts and recreation infrastructure use, and to mitigate impacts of increased utilization of City and Borough services by cruise ship passengers’ (Mak, 2008).This tax was subsequently raised to $8 per passenger, and a second, similar, $7 USD municipal tax was applied at the Port of Ketchikan (Ringer, 2010). Mak’s (2008) research found that despite opposition to the taxes, Alaska’s cruise ship visitation numbers continued to rise following its imposition.

4.2.2 Caribbean and Mexico

The Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico are the most popular regions globally for cruise tourism with approximately 34% of the industry market share (Evangelia, Panagiota, and Charikleia, 2019). There were nearly 30 million cruise visits to the region in 2019 alone (Manning, 2023).

Caribbean nations were amongst the earliest governments to attempt to band together and charge a head tax; however, early attempts in the 1990s failed when cruise lines threatened to cease operations in the countries and port cities proposing to charge this tax (Oyogoa, 2016). This has since changed, and today, most islands charge a head tax, although these taxes vary significantly (McLean, 2021). According to McLean (2021) the variance in amounts is at least partially due to cruise ship operators having purchased their own islands in some parts of the region. This gives cruise lines further negotiating power with the various islands who depend on the “head tax” as a source of revenue, as the cruise operators can forego certain ports in favour of their own islands (McLean, 2021). Table 10 outlines the various taxes.

Table 10

Amounts: Dominican Republic: $1.50 USD Bonaire: $3 USD Grenada: $4.50 USD Saint Lucia: $5 USD St. Kitts and Nevis: $6 USD Belize: $7 USD Puerto Rico: $13 USD Jamaica: $15 USD British Virgin Islands and Bahamas: $15 USD

Applies to: Each passenger who disembarks

Does not apply to: No evidence of exemptions

(Source: McLean, 2021)

There are many individual nations in the region, each with their own rules and systems of administration for the tax. For example, on the island of Bonaire the $3 per day head tax is equally divided with one dollar going to the marine protection parks, one for the country’s tourism corporation and one for the Island government (Van Bets, Lamers, and van Tatenhove, 2017). Alternatively, in the Bahamas, the passenger tax is charged, levied, collected and paid into the Tourism Development Fund established by the Tourism Development Corporation of the Bahamas Act (The Parliament of the Bahamas, 2023).

Impacts and Changes to the Levies

Across jurisdictions in both the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, there was limited data on the impacts of the head taxes in the available research. However, there was evidence in some jurisdictions of changes. In the Bahamas, the head tax policy was updated in 2023, and the tax was increased as follows:

• $23 for every cruise ship passenger leaving the Bahamas by sea from the Harbour of Nassau or Freeport
• $25 for every cruise ship passenger leaving the Bahamas by sea from a private island not visiting any other port in the Bahamas
• A separate $5 fee called the tourism sustainability levy is applied to every cruise ship passenger arriving or leaving the Bahamas

(The Parliament of the Bahamas, 2023)

There was also evidence, via news reports, that Mexico is planning to introduce a levy on cruise passengers. According to Valdes (2024) and Wilson (2024), cruise ship passengers in Mexico are currently exempted from the country’s tourist tax, called the “immigration fee”; however, beginning in 2025 that will change. A $42 USD immigration fee for each passenger will now be charged, regardless of whether passengers disembark (Valdes, 2024). Media reports, such as Wilson (2024) state that two-thirds of the fee will be allocated to Mexico’s Department of Defence. Beyond the national level fee, guests in Costa Maya and Cozumel will also be required to pay a $5 USD fee to contribute to the National Disaster Prevention Fund under regional laws (Wilson, 2024). There are conflicting reports of when these fees will come into effect, with some reports stating it will be early 2025, while others state it is unlikely to occur before 2026 (McCarthy, 2024; Valdes, 2024; Wilson, 2024). While the impacts of this levy will not be clear until it comes into effect; cruise industry organisations such as the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association have been critical of the tax structure and stated that this could reduce cruise ship calls at Mexican ports dramatically (McCarthy, 2024).

4.3 Other International Jurisdictions

4.3.1 Australia & New Zealand

The Australasian cruise market has grown at a rate of nearly 10% per year since the early 2000s in terms of cruise ship visitation (Douglas, Ellis, and Frost, 2018). Stats NZ, the national statistics body for New Zealand, reported that the number of unique passengers on Australian and New Zealand cruises was approximately 220,000 in 2017 and grew a further 20,000 to 240,000 passengers by 2018 (Douglas, Ellis, and Frost, 2018). In Australia, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne are the three largest home ports (Thomas and Stoeckl, 2015) while in New Zealand, Auckland and the small community of Akaroa are among the most popular ports of call (London, Moyle, and Lohmann, 2017; Lück, Seeler, and Radic, 2021). Despite recent growth, the Australasian market remains small compared to other cruising markets because it is difficult to redeploy larger ships from other regions to the area (Thomas and Stoeckl, 2015).

Unlike in some of the other cases, such as Venice or the Caribbean, there was limited evidence of impacts of cruising on communities in the region. However, Lück, Seeler, and Radic’s (2021) research found that the town of Akaroa, New Zealand, where the total resident population was 625, was visited annually by approximately 200,000 cruise passengers. Akaroa residents expressed concerns about noise pollution, air pollution, the proximity of docking ships to resident neighbourhoods and the significant traffic congestion from buses moving disembarking passengers to nearby Christchurch (Lück, Seeler, and Radic, 2021).

In both Australia and New Zealand, there was evidence of existing levies applied to tourists, and in both cases, cruise ship passengers are included and specifically referenced in the application of the levies (New Zealand Government, 2024; Australian Border Force, 2024). In Australia, the Passenger Movement Charge applies to anyone leaving Australia, whether they eventually return or not (Australian Border Force, 2024). In New Zealand, there are two separate levies, the Border Processing Levy and the Customs Levy, both of which are applied to both air travellers and cruise ship travellers, although the amounts vary depending on the method of travel (New Zealand Government, 2024). The details of these fees are in Table 11; however, no evidence was found during this review on the rationale for creation of these levies.

Table 11

Amounts: Australia: Passenger Movement Charge (Aus.): $10 Australian dollars (AUS) New Zealand: Border Processing Levies: New Zealand dollar (NZ$)11.48 for the Customs Levy, paid on arrival NZ$ 10.58 for the Biosecurity Levy, paid on arrival Customs levy of NZ$ 4.55 paid at departure

Applies to: Australia: All cruise passengers; however, those passengers who depart Australia more than once (e.g. they stop at multiple Australian ports) are only required to pay the fee once New Zealand: All cruise passengers on both arrival AND departure

Does not apply to: Australia: Children aged 11 or younger on the date of departure Military personnel on military crafts, crew members, Transit passengers who do not undergo customs or immigration processing, Diplomatic passengers Emergency arrivals New Zealand: Travellers under the age of two Crew members and staff aboard cruise ships Those passengers who do not leave the exclusive economic zone Those seeking relief from weather or emergency

(Source: New Zealand Government, 2024; Australian Border Force, 2024)

Australia’s Passenger Movement Charge is collected when a ticket is sold by any carrier (airline or shipping company) and sent by the carrier to the Department of Home Affairs, usually by direct debit payment (Australian Border Force, 2024). Shipping operators are responsible for making the arrangements for the payment via the Department of Home Affairs in advance of their arrival by filling out the Client Particulars Form (Australian Border Force, 2024). Similarly, in New Zealand, the costs are included in the ticket price when booking the cruise (New Zealand Government, 2024). The Chief Executive and the executive council of the New Zealand government will issue a notice to the shipping operator that will include an estimate of the total payable amount, and once received, the cruise ship operator is then responsible for paying the collected levy to the Chief Executive no later than the 20^th day of the month, following the month in which they receive the notice (Customs and Excise Order, 2015).

There was very little available information on what the collected levies are used for. However, the New Zealand Customs Service website (2024) does state that as of 1 July 2024, the levies were to be partially used to finance the processing and administration costs of the levies themselves (New Zealand Government, 2024). Financial reports from 2022/23 do indicate that the customs levy on cruise ship passengers drew net actual revenue of NZ$ 3.056 million in 2022/23 and the biosecurity levy a further NZ$ 1.915 million (New Zealand Government, 2024).

Impacts of and Changes to the Levies

In 2023, the Australian government announced as part of their upcoming federal budget that the Passenger Movement Charge would be increased from $10 AUS to $70 AUS per passenger (Pollock, 2023). There was little information available as to the rationale for the increase, although media reports such as Pollock (2023) cited inflation as the reason. At the time, there were subsequent reports that both Princess Cruises and Cunard decided to withdraw from Melbourne after the announcement (Francis, 2023); however, there was no data available to confirm how this change has since affected arrival numbers.

In New Zealand, a change to the levies was applied beginning on 1 December 2024 and is set to remain until 30 June 2027. Beginning on 1 December 2024 the Customs levy for cruise ship passengers arriving in New Zealand rose to NZ$ 27.14 while the Biosecurity levy remained the same at NZ$ 10.58 per passenger. The levy applied at departure also changed, as it was reduced from the previous charge and cruise ship passengers now pay NZ$ 0.68. Again, little evidence was found outlining a reason for the increase. Given the recent nature of the change, there was no available evidence as to the impact of this change either on residents or cruise ship operators.

4.3.2 Asia

Asia is one of the world’s most rapidly developing markets for cruise tourism, with the number of cruise passengers in Asia growing from 1.51 million in 2013 to 4.24 million in 2017 (Jeon, Duru, and Yeo, 2019. The number of voyages also increased from 861 to 2086 in that same period (Jeon, Duru, and Yeo, 2019). As of 2019, there were 35 major cruise ports in Asia. As of 2017, however, Shanghai and Singapore were by far the most popular, with a total of 581 port calls at Shanghai and 383 to Singapore in 2017 (Jeon, Duru, and Yeo, 2019). Other popular hubs included destinations in South Korea, Japan, and Malaysia (Ricaurte et al., 2016).

To support the continued growth of tourism, and specifically cruise tourism, governments across the region have adopted policies that differ from those of more developed cruise tourism jurisdictions, like those of the Caribbean and Mediterranean (Lau and Sun, 2020). There is some evidence that some countries, like Japan or areas such Bali, have implemented tourism taxes that apply to cruise passengers provided they remain overnight and/or are embarking or disembarking in those jurisdictions (Kelly, 2024; Teng, 2023); however, there was no available evidence of any tourist taxes specifically levied at cruise ships.

Much of the available research focuses on China, where the cruise market penetration is the largest (Ricaurte et al., 2016). It is also the nation that is driving most of the growth in the industry across Asia (Xie, Qian, and Wang, 2021). According to Lau and Sun (2020), concepts of responsibility and sustainability in cruise tourism are not popular or widely recognised in China, and their findings suggest this may be why there are minimal environmental or regulatory requirements placed on cruise line operators. The Chinese government has recently taken significant steps to ease restrictions for cruise line operators and cruise ship passengers. Firstly, on 15 May 2024, the National Immigration Administration announced a policy to allow visa-free entry of foreign tourist groups aboard cruise ships via all cruise ship ports in China (The State Council, 2024a). In June 2024, the government also revealed new regulations designed to make it easier to re-supply international cruise ships in Chinese ports, specifically reducing tariffs on goods purchased by cruise lines for use on board (The State Council, 2024b).

4.3.3 Middle East

The Middle East and specifically the jurisdictions surrounding the Persian Gulf, are increasingly popular cruising destinations (Gutberlet, 2020). This is a comparatively recent phenomenon compared with other regions, as the first arrival of a mega-cruiser, defined in this research as a ship carrying more than 1800 passengers, in Oman was in 2004 (Gutberlet, 2017). Since then, the industry has grown significantly through the development of the Cruise Arabia Alliance, composed of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Oman (Gutberlet, 2017). Gibbons (2024) reports a total of 229 cruises brought 599,000 passengers to Oman’s ports in 2023. In their 2020 research, Gutberlet found that some destinations, particularly the Souq Muttrah in Oman, bore similar hallmarks, although on a smaller scale, of the overtourism faced by Venice and Amsterdam. Gutberlet (2020) found that there were dates where 3000 people passed through Souq Muttrah during a recorded window of time leading to overcrowding, significant congestion and members of the surrounding resident community moving elsewhere.

Unlike in the Mediterranean, the evidence found suggests that currently many of the cruise jurisdictions in the Middle East have adopted an approach similar to that taken in China. Several Middle Eastern countries have recently adopted practices aimed at reducing the costs either to the individual passenger or to cruise ship operators. To date, there was no evidence of a cruise ship levy being considered, instead there was evidence of loosening of restrictions or financial limits on the cruise ship industry.

For example, in Iran the islands of Kish and Qeshm have been designated as free trade zones and are less regulated than visitation to the mainland, allowing foreign nationals to visit these islands without an entry visa for up to 30 days (Khodadadi, 2018). As of September 2024, there are reports that the Oman government has introduced ten-day and one-month free visas available specifically from cruise-ship agents, to encourage further industry development (Gibbon, 2024). Finally, in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Red Sea Authority has recently issued a permit for the construction of a marine tourism marina, and has issued Red Sea Cruises (Cruise Saudi) with a route license for cruise ships, all aimed at developing the nation’s coastal tourism sector (Middle Easter Economy, 2024)