Sustainably cruising into World Tourism Day

World Tourism Day has been held on 27 September since 1980. As the tourism sector continues to grow, the impacts it has on the environment is increasing as well. The cruise industry has been taking measures to reduce its impact and to sail its way into a sustainable future. As the sector was heavily impacted by Covid during the past two years, it has taken the time to reshape itself. Green corridors for cruise ships have been created, cruise lines have discussed with cities and ports on how to collaborate more sustainably, and some companies have banned single use plastic. To understand better the steps that ports, municipalities, and cruise organisations are taking to support the sustainable transition of cruising, we have asked some of our members the following question for World Tourism Day: "How can local authorities (port authorities and municipalities) support sustainable cruise/maritime tourism in port cities?" Fulvio Lino DI BLASIO, President © North Adriatic Sea Port Authority North Adriatic Sea Port Authority, Italy One of the most interesting and challenging topics for port cities in the future consists in establishing a model for development and tourism which is actually based on the sea as a resource, as well as being able to select a local context which cannot just welcome, but also accompany and integrate tourism requirements with local communities and their traditions, cultures, environment and economic activities. More specifically, for those destinations which have achieved a certain maturity with regard to managing tourism from the sea (in the form of cruise landings, but not only), the weak point is the difficulty in adjusting the new trends in tourism, the new sensitivity to certain issues and the new construction trends to an offer which is actually able to promote a solution allowing for progress in the region and for an integration of tourism flows within local development models (making sure that one does not prevail over the other). Therefore, the first item on the agenda is integration of strategic planning by local government and port authorities with the region, through an extended stakeholder engagement effort. Secondly, public administration offices should liaise with private players (shipping…