Massport approves Flynn Cruiseport passenger arrival fee for 2026

The Massachusetts Port Authority this week approved the introduction of a cruise passenger arrival fee to fund a $105M upgrade to the Flynn Cruiseport in South Boston.

The new fee will be $3/person in 2026, rising at the rate of $3/year to $15/person in 2030.

Centerpiece of the upgrades will be shore power connection facilities that are expected to significantly reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide at the seaport by replacing electricity now being generated onboard ships.

In 2026, Flynn Cruiseport is expected to host more than 160 ships carrying an estimated 483,000 passengers from 20+ cruise lines, and put $256M into the economy of Boston and Massachusetts.

Flynn Cruiseport is named for South Boston native Ray Flynn who served as Mayor of Boston 1984-1993. and as US Ambassador to the Holy See 1993-1997 during the Clinton administration.

Belfast finds larger ships produce congestion and not much business

The City Council of Belfast, ME (population about 7,000) voted this week to have drafted an amendment to existing ordinances that would ban shore excursions from cruise ships carrying 50 or more passengers.

The issues that set this initiative into motion - harbor docking space tied up, congestion in Belfast's narrow streets - came about when the American Cruise Lines 243' catamaran American Eagle (pictured, above) which carries 50 crew and up to 100 passengers - began visiting the city in the summer of 2024.

Because American Cruise Lines sends charter buses to take disembarked passengers on day tours out of Belfast - thus limiting passenger spend in the city - the proposed ordinance amendment has the support of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce.

As of right now, 14 cruise ships are expected to visit Belfast in the summer of 2025.

A ban on large cruise ships (>1,000 passengers) passed by the Town of Bar Harbor in 2022 resulted in a lawsuit against the town. But in March 2024 a federal judge found the Bar Harbor ordinance to be a "lawful exercise of home rule authority" under the Maine and US Constitutions.

Stay tuned for updates on Belfast.

Bar Harbor Council rejects tourism task force plan

At its meeting on Tuesday, the Bar Harbor Town Council rejected the initial draft of a charter for a Sustainable Tourism Management Task Force.

The draft charter as presented contains a provision for a 14-member board to include representatives of the Cruise Line Industry Association (CLIA), the Maine Office of Tourism (MOT) and "regional community representatives" who are not Bar Harbor residents.

Businessman Charles Sidman, who led the successful effort to limit numbers of cruise ship passengers in the town, advocated making the Board residents only - with a max of 1/3 business owners who benefit directly from tourism - with other interested parties serving in an advisory capacity only.

It's anticipated that a revised charter draft will be presented at the next Council meeting, on 21 January 2025.

Airbnb reopens to new Experience listings

A company spokesperson confirmed the reopening in a statement saying in part:

“Our aim is to provide guests with a diverse, unique selection of experiences that authentically reflect the culture and community of cities around the world.”

Experiences were first added to the Airbnb platform in 2022, and hyped as an area of "major investment" for the company, but new listings were then paused in 2023. Next, in April this year, Airbnb introduced its "Icons" hybrid tour/lodging product, followed in May by the announcement of its intent to remove thousands of experience listings for not meeting Airbnb standards. And in August, CEO Brian Chesky announced that Experiences would be returning in 2025 as a cross-sell product with lodging.

There's wide speculation about why Experiences may have been brought back ahead of schedule, but Airbnb isn't talking.

Problems identified by Airbnb with the initial Experiences initiative have included high costs, lack of exclusivity and difficulty in scaling, but hosts have complained about poor support on the part of Airbnb.

Why is a product with so much potential having so much difficulty getting traction? Stay tuned for updates.

Bar Harbor Town Council clarifies 2024-2025 cruise ship limitations

Subsequent to a ruling handed down by a federal judge on 29 February 2024 which upheld the right of the Town of Bar Harbor to limit cruise ship passenger visits to 1000 a day, the Town Council has issued a clarification as to how this limitation will be enforced in 2024 and 2025:

• The Harbor Master will cancel or reject requests for any reservations made after 8 November 2022 for cruise ships carrying more than 1000 passengers.
• The town will honor 2024 reservations made prior to 8 November 2022.
• 2025 reservations made and accepted after 17 March 2022 will be subject to the ordinance.
• If necessary, the town will pursue legal action in the event of visitor limitation violations.

Because cruise ship lines make port reservations several years ahead, it's expected that 2024 visitor numbers may only be down by 50%. But in 2025 and subsequent years, visitation could be down 80%.

Can the Town of Bar Harbor and its businesses stand a 50%-80% reduction in annual tourist numbers? Stay tuned.