Catalina: A Case of Residents Shaping Policy for Island Port OCall - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Catalina: A Case of Residents Shaping Policy for Island Port O’Call

CRUISE SHIP AT AVALON HARBOR

Year 2016 Arrivals to the Island

Ferry 68.5 % Cruise Tender 24.3 % Private boat 5.3 % Private Plane 1.0% Helicopter 0.9 %

Process to Call Avalon for Cruise Lines

• Municipal Code grants Harbor Master

authority to control use of harbor facilities

• Cruise line contacts Harbor Master
• Harbor Master decides if ship can be handled

and makes decision

Recent Request by Royal Caribbean

• August 2019 Request by Royal Caribbean to call

Wednesdays and Saturdays from June 2020 to Sept 2022.

• Consistent with tradition, Harbor Master approved

Weds calls but denies Saturday calls

• RCL approved for weekly calls on Wednesdays
• Community learned about it later.

Economic Considerations

• Avalon has limited sources of revenue- Annual

budget about 28 million per year

• Winter season is challenging for tourist-
• riented businesses. Many close Jan/Feb

Cruise Tourism Benefits

• Year round work for

employees so they can live on island

• Daily Spending in 2016

averaged $82.

• Based on tracking

incentives some cruise passenger return for

• vernight trips
• City Wharfage Revenue

– over $700,000 per year

Community Concerns-1

• Crowding in

downtown

• Waste handling

sewer/refuse

• Resource limitations
• Infrastructure needs
• Overloading wireless

system

• Insufficient golf carts

for rental

Community Concerns-2

• Ships can not hook to shoreside power
• Friends of the Earth report card gives carnival an F
• Ships so close you can hear their loud speakers
• Hotel guest ask which are cruise ships day before they book
• Lines don’t give back to community- chamber memberships,

donations

• Increasing ship days should be on the ballot
• Residents don’t understand why there are no contracts

Literature Review

• Contradictory results make generalizations difficult
• Little consensus on which variables determine positive

residents views- finding are location specific

• Residents that benefit economically from cruises have

favorable attitudes

• See Garcia, Vazquez, and Macias “Resident’s attitudes towards

the impacts of tourism, Tourism Management Perspectives, 13(2015) 33-40.

Governance Issues

• Failure to notify public before decision made
• No written policy on process to approve ship

calls- ordinance deals with wharfage rate

• Difficulty in determining impacts on resources

between day-trippers and cruise passengers

• Hispanic population (68.9%) not active in
• debate. No multi-lingual materials available.

Comparable Tender Ports California

City

Cruise Ship Calls 2020 Resident Population Passenger Rate US$ (2020) Avalon 133 4000 4.50 Santa Barbara 30 92,000 7.00 Monterey 20 28,000 7.00

A Caution for Cruise Lines

• Marketing incentives (rebates) was a

lightening rod with community- policy up for review

• Residents aware other ports charge more
• Commuity members complain there is no

visible sign Carnival gives back to community- they are not members of the Chamber of Commerce and have not made donations.

January 21,2020 Adopted Policy

• Three ships per week
• No limit on numbers of passengers
• Tendering at port is self limiting on passenger

count/size of vessel

Future Research

• Ship calls in 2021 will jump to approximately 160
• Information on resource use anecdotal and needs further

study

• Separating impacts between day-trippers and cruise

passengers has not been adequately done

• Resident feedback was in response to a call for comments on

policy to be developed. No survey of community members.

• Examine residents perceptions including length of time

resident on island (No. of generations) and gender identify

• Examine ways to manage visitors not exclude them