A popular French tourist destination could see a ban on large cruise ships if its mayor gets his way, after he said he is fed up with “low-cost” tourists docking in the city.
The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, has launched a fight against large cruise ships in the French Riviera city that attracts tourists with its warm climate, elegant promenades and cultural interests such as its opera house and museums.
“I don’t want these floating hotels putting down their anchors in Nice,” said Mr Estrosi, The Times reports.
“These cruises that pollute [and] that pour out their low-cost customers who do not consume anything and who leave their rubbish behind them, well I say these cruises don’t have a place here.”
The mayor said he has plans to sign a bylaw banning ships more than 190m long and with a capacity of more than 900 passengers docking in Nice and Villefranche-sur-Mer from next summer.
Mr Estrosi claimed that this would lead to a 70 per cent drop in the number of passengers arriving on cruises to the city.
“At the moment, we have [ships] that are real floating towns with more than 5,000 passengers,” he said. “These [ships] do not correspond in any way to the tourist model that we want to develop.”
“We have prevented concrete from smothering Nice, we are not going to let overtourism smother it in turn.”
Doubling down on X, Mr Estrosi also touched on the impact cruises have on pollution: “Overtourism and pollution generated by these floating cities are scourges that we want to combat in Nice.
“The truth is that these are activities that are not very profitable for our territory, that pollute a lot and threaten the health of the people of Nice and Villefranchois,” he said. “Not to mention the consequences on biodiversity.”
The mayor’s comments have sparked debate over the impact that losing cruise ship tourists could have on the local area.
Environmentalists have supported the idea, including Juliette Chesnel-Le Roux, the local head of the Ecologists party who says that the mayor’s decision is an “immense and historic victory”.
However, local restauranteurs and shopkeepers are worried that a ban could put their businesses in jeopardy.
Staff at the Trastevere restaurant in Villefranche-sur-Mer told the local newspaper Nice Matin that its number of diners doubles when cruise ships arrive, adding that they “consume a lot”.
The mayor has taken inspiration from Venice’s ban on cruise ships that has been in place for six years now after it came into effect in 2019.
“Venice has regained its beauty and its landscape by having a mayor who definitively refuses cruises. We intend to go in this direction, too,” Estrosi told local French press, Monaco Life reports.
If the ban is put in place it will follow the lead of several other European cities and tourist destinations looking to crack down on cruises due to overtourism and environmental reasons.
Authorities in Ibizia put new regulations in place in September allowing no more than two cruises to dock at the same time.
Amsterdam also banned cruise ships from docking in the city centre in 2023, while Santorini and Mykonos announced last year a €20 (£16.90) tourist tax for visitors who arrive on cruise ships.
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