Cruisin’ For A Bruisin’
I'm curious Galveston, why the cruise ship industry is potentially, and exponentially, expanding on our island, but will create a burden on us who live here by decreasing our small island quality of life? Continuing to build cruise ship terminals and encouraging vessel capacities of nearly 10,000 people (crew included) will exceed tourism burden thresholds.
This sand barrier island, the people who live here, and its ecosystem are way too valuable to give way, fellow islanders. Once way is given, I harbor no expectation of return to what once existed. Consider our island’s current (and past, future) population and demographics. I often do.
How will it feel, and what will it look like when multiple, high-capacity cruise ships are dramatically and, perhaps more importantly, consistently changing our island’s population and capacity resources?
One in approximately five people will be a cruise tourist, with just one of the jumbo cruise ships planned for Harborside. Build that third terminal, and one in two people (half(ish)) walking around on our island for most days will be a cruise ship passenger. Yet, these tens of thousands of people are of little benefit to our downtown, small, local businesses. Much is to be learned from our potential sister city of Key West, Florida, about the cruise ship industry’s impacts to a small island and its residents.
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