Loss of cruise ship income — again — has uncertainty rippling through tourism industry

Newfoundland and Labrador has taken another hit to its beleaguered tourism industry, with the federal government's announcement last week that cruise ships will be banned from operating in Canadian waters until this time next year.

While the loss of cruise tourism will only add to the negative impact that COVID-19 restrictions have had on the province's industry, Ross Klein, a Memorial University professor and cruise industry expert, said it will have a much smaller effect than other prohibitions.

"Cruise tourism is a relatively small segment of the larger tourism industry within the province," he said, "The health of the tourism industry will depend more so on whether there'll be open borders for travel across Canada."

Cruise ships with more than 100 passengers on board will be prohibited until at least Feb. 28, 2022. 

Even if travel between the United States and Canada is slow to reopen, Klein said Newfoundland's tourism industry would survive with interprovincial travel alone, something that tour operators and others in the hospitality industry have hoped for in the wake of closures across the province.

"The whole question becomes whether or not people from the mainland will be able to freely come to Newfoundland," said Klein. "And there really weren't enough people from the Atlantic bubble to make it worthwhile for many places to open, so I think that becomes the more critical issue."

In other parts of the country, however, the stagnation of the industry could lead to policy changes in the U.S., which may potentially exclude Canadian cities once things return to normal.

American cruise ships are required by law to stop in a foreign port between American ports, making cities along Canada's west coast profitable stops for local vendors. American cruise operators are lobbying to have that law waived, and trying to find a way to keep running, including bringing back what Klein called technical stops.

"That is they go to a port, stop for four hours — they've now complied with U.S. law — but there's no economic value to Canada, or to the port," said Klein. "That was practised a number of years ago, and if they do that, I think they need to be certainly billed quite heavily for that privilege."

Klein said that this won't be as much of a concern to Newfoundland, as the majority of ships coming here arrive from or depart to ports in Europe.

Larger implications in Labrador?

While the federal ban on cruise ships might not have a pronounced effect on Newfoundland, some Labrador residents are expecting a bigger impact on their income.

The federal ban includes an order prohibiting non-residential pleasure craft in Canadian Arctic water.

John Terriak is a Nain artist who runs a studio in the community.

Terriak had previously sold a lot of his work to cruise ship visitors, and said he was disappointed by the announcement.

"This was quite a bit of money to the community. When the cruise ships come and tourists come they buy my carvings," said Terriak. "It's a big impact on my income and other people's income too."

The announcement marks a second consecutive season of cruise ship cancellation. Terriak said he's not sure if that will deter people from taking Arctic cruises in the future, but said his community is already seeing a downturn across the tourism sectors.

"We've got a lot of things here for cruise ships to see that they're not going to see now, maybe ever again the way things are going," said Terriak. "Our national park is not being used because of COVID-19, so that's been affected, and there's no tourists going there by plane or anything."

Terriak said that in past years, the small group of artists who used the studio were able to come together and sell their work to visitors; something they're going to miss this year.

"The last time the cruise ship came they all came to the artist studio, and there were about seven people in there, all selling their arts and crafts, and demonstrating," said Terriak. "It was really good to have it there, but now there's nobody coming."

Operators hoping for local support, bright future

The types of cruise ships that communities in Labrador are used to seeing are expeditionary cruises, typically carrying between 100 and 200 passengers, according to Peter Bull, the executive director of Battle Harbour Historic Trust.

Bull said his community didn't expect much from this season, after two cruises were cancelled last summer and they decided to close.

While they were able to hire people in the community to prepare for the coming summer, restoring buildings and adding trail-markers, Bull said it looks like that s eason won't happen at all.

"We were able to get the staff on and then get them employed for the summer," said Bull. "Now, this coming summer is not looking like we're going to be open— we'll be lucky to get the Atlantic bubble."

Bull said they'll be relying on Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to come to Battle Harbour this season to fill the gaps the ships have left. But he's run the numbers, he said, and it could be tough to meet those goals.

"In 2019 we had 201 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians come to Battle Harbour," said Bull. "And for us to be viable we're going to need over 400."

Bull said he's not too concerned with the future of the cruise industry in the province though, and hopes the loss of larger ships proves beneficial for Battle Harbour, with more operations opting for the smaller, expedition-sized boats the community thrives on.

"I think there's going to be a downturn in the huge cruise ships. People are not going to be too keen on getting on there."

Bull said he's spoken with some of the companies that Battle Harbour usually works with, and they share his view.

"It's hard now," he said, "and if they can come through it, there's gonna be a bigger demand for these smaller expedition-size [cruises]."

In the meantime, with no cruises and a lack of global travel, Bull said it's a good time for people in the province to come and visit.

"You're not going to Cancun or anywhere, so this is the year to come to Battle Harbour."

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