1For my presentation today I'm going to talk about some of the issues facing the cruise ship industry
2and then some ways these can be addressed.
3The cruise ship industry has partly been responsible for the effects of overtourism in recent decades.
4Overtourism occurs in places where excessive numbers of tourists cause significant problems.
5Pollution, for example, is among the greatest threats to many popular tourist destinations.
6Of course, for many places it's a difficult balance to achieve.
7They want to promote their city or island as a desirable tourist destination,
8but at the same time, are unable to cope with thousands of cruise ship passengers on a daily basis.
9The trouble is, excessive tourism is destroying the beauty spots and places of interest that people come to visit.
10Several cities, such as Barcelona, have responded by imposing a tax
11which all visitors to the city from cruise ships have to pay.
12But as it's only a couple of euros, many green campaigners think it won't deter enough people to make any difference.
13Bruges is another city which became impossible to navigate at times
14because of the huge numbers of cruise passengers arriving on day trips from the port of Zeebrugge.
15The city was becoming like a 'theme park',
16with shops only catering for tourists, selling chocolate, which Belgium is famous for, and other souvenirs.
17The local council took action to limit cruise passengers to a more manageable level.
18Dubrovnik had to limit the numbers of cruise ships after it became extremely popular as a cruise ship destination
19when it featured in a hugely successful TV series.
20What it does now is control the timing of all cruise ship entries to the city's port.
21However, many people feel this measure does not go far enough.
22Cruise ships may be unpopular in some of their destinations
23but they also have an image problem.
24They've always been perceived as a safe holiday for the elderly,
25with not much on offer for families or young couples.
26A recent survey showed that cost is also a major factor in putting younger groups off going on a cruise.
27But what they don't realise is that compared to other types of package holidays,
28cruises can actually be good value,
29as all activities and drinks are often included.
30And another perception is that cruises have lots of rules about what to wear and how to behave.
31But these days, most cruises are no longer very formal and behind the times.
32So what solutions are there for cruise lines to overcome some of these problems?
33How can they appeal to younger customers?
34Well one selling point is that cruise ships are becoming more sustainable.
35New ships are built with hybrid engines with large batteries
36which means ships do not have to keep their engines running while docked.
37Cruise lines are also designing ships specially for those in the age range of 21 to 45.
38The décor in these feels contemporary
39and there are a range of activities on board that you wouldn't find on a more traditional cruise.
40There's even a boxing ring on one ship, and most offer diving expeditions.
41But there's also a huge focus on well-being with a variety of sessions of different kinds.
42Food is always a very important part of any cruise
43and cruise ships have had to radically update their menus to suit the tastes of their younger customers.
44Vegan dishes are standard, for example.
45The restaurants on board have also gone paperless with menus available on screen.
46Unlike older generations who went on cruises largely to get away from everything,
47younger people expect to be able to keep in touch with friends and family.
48Many people going on longer cruises also spend time working,
49so companies have to guarantee wifi that can be relied upon at all times.
50My grandparents used to love looking through cruise brochures,
51even when they weren't planning on going on a cruise.
52Until very recently TV ads for cruises always felt dated and aimed at retirees.
53Cruise lines have been slow to adopt the power of social media
54but that's all changing.
55Leading cruise lines now employ top agencies to produce first rate videos for social media channels.
56It will be interesting to see...