CLIA’s Guiding Principles for Responsible Tourism
CLIA member cruise lines seek to be responsible partners to the communities where ships call, taking full account of current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts of our presence in destinations, addressing the needs of visitors, the travel and tourism industry, the environment, and host communities. To demonstrate these values, we aspire to uphold the following Guiding Principles for Responsible Tourism, which both reflect current practices and a commitment to progress.
Sustainable tourism practices in the destinations cruise ships visit
Download a copy of CLIA’s Guiding Principles for Responsible Tourism
7 Guiding Principles
Collaborate With the Communities Ships Visit
Cruise lines seek to proactively collaborate with the communities' ships visit by managing operations in ways that help reduce environmental and conservation initiatives.
Support Quality of Life and Respect Cultural and Natural Heritage
Cruise lines aim to support and work with port and local officials, stakeholders, passengers, and partners to limit disruptions to daily life and to protect sensitive cultural and natural resources in the destinations ships visit.
Contribute To the Economic Well-Being of Host Communities
Our members pursue commercial opportunities for local businesses, and, where feasible, provision ships locally and sustainably at ports of embarkation and ports of call.
Protect Public Health
Cruise lines strive to take measures for the protection of the health of passengers, crew, and the communities ships visit.
Provide Rewarding Employment Experiences and Career Paths
Cruise lines seek to provide rewarding employment experiences and careers to a global and diverse workforce from more than 150 countries – including on board and on shore opportunities in cruise line headquarters and regional offices, in ports and destinations, and other locations throughout the world where the industry’s vast network of partners and supply chains operate.
Demonstrate Good Governance
Cruise lines aim to follow policies and practices that support good governance, as well as provide accurate and timely information about operations globally and in ports and destinations to maximize collaboration, planning, and sound decision-making with and by local authorities.
Work With Global Travel and Tourism Partners on Best Practices for Optimizing Cruise Tourism in Port Destinations
Cruise lines seek to proactively collaborate with partners to identify industry level policies and practices in conjunction with trained destination managers to effectively optimize cruise tourism in destinations.
Principles for Mutually Successful Engagement
Applying these Guiding Principles requires cooperation and dialogue between the cruise sector, ports, and destinations, as collaboration has proven to be the most effective strategy for achieving common goals. To support this, CLIA has developed a set of principles for engagement in ports and destinations, inviting stakeholders to align on agreed-upon practices for mutual success. Drawing from past experience, the industry has identified five key principles for mutually beneficial engagement: transparency, consultation, cooperation, timing, and enforcement.
- Transparency and timely consultation help identify collaboration opportunities and ensure that destination stewardship solutions, such as berthing policies, are developed well in advance.
- Cooperation with local and regional authorities ensures tourism policies are developed holistically with key stakeholders, considering potential impacts on neighboring ports and cities.
- Timing that aligns with varying planning requirements helps ensure coordinated and effective implementation of policies by ports, destinations, cruise lines, and service providers.
- Enforcement of agreed-upon tourism policies allows for ongoing dialogue and stakeholder input, ensuring tourism management initiatives evolve in alignment with long-term strategies.