When will Scotland start saying 'no' to this plague of cruise ships? – Stephen Jardine

More than 90 cruise ships will visit Edinburgh this summer and the number keeps rising. It’s time to do a cost-benefit analysis of their environmental and economic effects

Here we go again. With the skirl of the pipes at Newhaven Harbour, another season of cruise liner activity in Edinburgh gets underway. At a time when other major European tourist destinations are cracking down on the impact they have, we seem to have declared open season.

Yesterday the Regal Princess was docked in the Firth of Forth with tenders ferrying up to 4,272 passengers ashore. Tomorrow, it’s the Queen Anne with 3,353 onboard. In June alone, 26 cruise liners will disgorge a total of up to 42,727 people ashore here with one thing in common, very little benefit for any of us.

In terms of emissions, cruise liners have a worse impact on the environment than any other form of transportation. They are much more damaging than air travel and analysis in the Marine Pollution Bulletin showed a cruise ship has a daily carbon footprint greater than 12,000 cars. The impacts are many and varied, from the 250 tonnes of fuel some burn each day to all the waste water and emissions that end up in the sea. No wonder Venice, Amsterdam and Barcelona have all banned them.

Venice has banned cruise ships from its historic centre (Picture: Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)

Tightly corralled tourists

The impact would be mitigated by some sort of benefit but that is hard to see. Both the ships visiting this weekend are registered in Bermuda for tax reasons, ensuring revenues pass through overseas shores. Forth Ports will receive anchorage and harbour fees but that company is now owned by a Canadian pension fund.

Get our weekly opinion newsletter for expert analysis from The Scotsman’s team of columnists

The average cruise visitor will step off a tender boat after breakfast straight onto a tour bus run by one of the companies that have tied up that business. They will then head off to see Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace and the Royal Mile before being disgorged back at the harbour in time for transfers back to the boat in time for dinner. Shops, restaurants and cafes on the waterfront will have no opportunity to make anything from this because the visitors are well fed and watered onboard and tightly corralled when on land.

Three ships in one day

This sort of high-impact, low-benefit tourism is what the tourist tax is designed to tackle. Every visitor has an effect on Edinburgh, whether it be traffic volumes, sewage, litter or congestion and that has to be paid for somehow. The issue with cruise liners is, despite the huge environmental impact they have, a tourist tax based on a charge for overnight stays wouldn’t apply because the accommodation they offer is on the move and not domiciled here.

Questioning this doesn’t mean we don’t want the business. Scotland received a record number of international visitors last year and most places would love a share of the four million tourists we now attract but that level needs to be managed.

A decade ago, a handful of cruise ships came to Edinburgh. This summer there will be more than 90 and the number keeps on rising. Three ships are due on a single day, June 17. Are these numbers just going to continue to go up or are we going to do a cost-benefit analysis of the environmental impact versus the economic incentive and plan what numbers actually work for the city. At the moment that welcoming piper seems to be the only one doing well out of this growing market. Is that really good enough?