The International Transport Forum has published a report that analyses Dublin’s attractiveness as a cruise port and assesses the impacts of cruise shipping on the city. It evaluates policies in place and provides recommendations to increase the positive impacts of cruise shipping for the city of Dublin.
Over the last decade, Dublin has grown as an important port of call for cruises in Northern Europe. Cruise tourism generates significant economic benefits for the city of Dublin. The value cruise tourism brings could be further increased by developing Dublin into a cruise home port, that is a port from which cruises start and where they end. Under which conditions could this be achieved? Which policy measures would be needed? Which stakeholders would need to be involved?
The report’s recommendations include:
- Implement the Alexandra Basin Redevelopment Project: This project will provide new berths for cruise shipping. Developing more adapted infrastructure for cruise ships and passengers is the primary concern to improve Dublin’s success as a cruise port. With approval from the national planning authority granted, implementation could go ahead at full speed.
- Develop a joint cruise strategy for the whole city of Dublin: As part of such a strategy Cruise Dublin could be promoted through joint marketing and communication of Dublin as a cruise destination.
- Better exploit Dublin’s asset as a potential home port: In order to increase local economic impacts of cruise shipping, Dublin’s assets as a potential cruise home port could be leveraged and the facilities needed for realising such an ambition provided, including a cruise terminal building structure.
- Resolve constraints related to cruise passenger flows: Solutions for alieviating constraints include more parking spots for coaches and planning to ease passenger traffic flows between the new cruise terminal and the city centre. The ambition should be to have these measures implemented when the new cruise terminal becomes operational.
- Develop a green cruise port policy: This could start with a systematic monitoring of environmental impacts of cruise ships, including air emissions, to be extended with mitigation measures, such as incentive schemes for cleaner cruise ships.
You may read the report herebelow
Source & Image credit: ITF OECD