Going on a cruise is either your adaptation of paradise or hell. Also, having these ships dock off the coast of Tasmania can be similarly as polarising.
Around 125 ships are planned to dock in Burnie and Hobart this year.
Twenty-nine of those ships will make a stop at Port Arthur and six will to moor off Freycinet and Wineglass Bay on the east coast.
A petition of is circling requiring the State Government to large extensive cruise ships from entering waters around the national park.
The petition of likewise requires an exclusion zone to be set up for all Tasmanian national park regions.
Up until now, the petition of has gathered a little more than 12,000 signatures.
Dr Sue Beeton, professor of tourism at William Angliss Institute, said managing the expectations of tourists and locals alike was a challenge for the cruise industry and governments nationwide.
“There’s a growing sense of privilege and expectations to also access more and more remote areas and often in a comfortable way.
Dr Beeton said the cruise ship industry was an “incredible survivor” as it had managed to grow worldwide when many had predicted it would die out decades ago.
Be that as it may, the development of cruise holidays has not been without contention.
The ascent in cruise ship guests to regions, for example, Port Arthur has been invited for expanding the tourism dollars being infused into the world heritage site.
Be that as it may, there have been worries about the natural and visual effects of ships in different territories of Tasmania.
In Hobart, concerns have been raised about the natural and well-being effects of low-grade fuel being burnt while ships are in port.
Dr Beeton said letting the cruise ship industry develop without planning in the hopes of increased tourist spending would not offset any negative impacts.
“There are so many pros and cons towards any tourist activity.
“I don’t want to paint the cruise ship industry as completely bad and evil, because it’s not, but we do have these issues that I think need greater consideration.”
Luke Martin from the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania said there was a need to act now to work out what the state wanted from the cruise ship industry.
“It’s probably the fastest growing travel sector in the region,” he said.
“Let’s have that conversation now: How do we sustainably manage that demand to visit these locations?”
Mr Martin said options such as developing areas elsewhere on Tasmania’s east coast for cruise ships to stop, where passengers in small groups had the option to take a tour into Wineglass Bay, would lower the impact as well as spread the financial benefit.
“We need to look at how we manage this appropriately,” he said.
“There are destinations all over the world that have dealt with this in good ways and bad ways.”
He pointed to places such as New Zealand, the Galapagos Islands and Iceland as examples to learn from.
