28 Aug Global Cruise Activist webinar September 2

September 2 webinar featured climate activists from around the world demanding no return to business-as-usual after COVID-19. View the webinar here: https://youtu.be/A0481MXdpO4

Local activists join Global Cruise Activist Network calling for cruise industry changes

Community members from Seattle joined the launch of the Global Cruise Activist Network, demanding the cruise industry NOT return to business-as-usual if and when cruise ships start sailing again after the pandemic.

During a breakthrough webinar on Wednesday, September 2, port community leaders from around the world — including Seattle — described how the cruise industry damages their environments and how they want cruise companies to improve their business model.

WHO: Seattle Cruise Control www.seattlecruisecontrol.org

WHAT: Launch of the global network, introducing a set of guidelines called “Principles of Responsible Cruise Tourism” to enforce before cruise ships start sailing again.

WHY: For decades, the cruise industry’s business practices have put the social fabric, economic integrity, public health, and environment of host communities — as well as passengers, crew, coastal and marine ecosystems, and the climate — at risk. The latest example, the industry’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, shows that the industry is unwilling to protect the public interest without legally binding regulations.

Inspired by the 2002 Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism, the Future of Tourism Coalition’s Guiding Principles, and the principles of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, cruise communities are coming together to urge worldwide implementation of the Principles of Responsible Cruise Tourism.  

The Global Cruise Activist Network calls on cruise companies to delay their return to operations until they address these principles. The network is calling for an equitable and responsible system of leisure travel that optimizes economic benefits to all stakeholders, while eliminating the negative social, public health, and environmental impacts of cruising on port communities. 

MEDIA CONTACT: info@seattlecruisecontrol.org