Ports usually drive much of the trade and stir up tourism in some cities, but that doesn’t mean they’re all happy with visitors.
The city government of Monterey, a California city two hours from San Francisco, has decided to make life more difficult for cruise operators in its port.
According to a post by the local authorities, they will discontinue several services offered to ships in their port.
Although the mayor does not have the authority to stop cruises in his port effectively, the local council has taken away the entire structure and staff working at the reception of the tourist ships, making their stop practically unfeasible.
The vote was 3 to 2.
“People don’t want to come here in Monterey and take a picture with a cruise ship in the bay,” explained Mayor Tyller Williamson, according to the Monterey Herald newspaper.
“What we want to do is enjoy our nature. This is what our community’s efforts, and our environment, are about. Let’s take care of this little piece of our planet we have here,” he added.
During the onset of the covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, no cruise ships made stops in the city.
According to the publication, the stops in Monterey happened on cruises that took routes that went from Mexico to Alaska.
This is a trend followed by other American cities.
In November, Bar Harbor, Maine, passed a measure limiting the number of cruise ship visitors to 1,000 people, including crew members.
The number was not chosen for nothing since 95% of the cruise ships that stop there have a capacity of more than 1000 tourists.
With information from UOL
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