“When tourists come here and take a carriage ride, the horses don’t take
them to Citadel Mall. They take them through the historic district where people
spend a lot of money to keep up those houses that others want to see,” says
Bryan Harrison in the Charleston News Alternative.(3)   That statement is
confirmed by the 2011, Office of Tourism Analysis, College of Charleston survey
that says besides “food,” the following round out the top five tourist draws of
our city:  “History, Ambiance and Atmosphere, Attractions and Local
Hospitality.”(4)  And while most of the “attractions” of our city are “free” for
tourists, they are not “free” for the shopkeepers, residents, or religious,
civic and fraternal organizations that must spend boatloads of money to maintain
the historic buildings, homes, and gardens.  And that “cost” isn’t just
financial, the same people and organizations, many of which also must pay
increasing property taxes, must also face the ever-growing negative impacts of
cruise ship visits including unhealthy smoke and soot pollution, increased
pedestrian and traffic congestion, noise, litter and simple wear and tear–all
add up to a diminished quality of life.  Residents must also pay additional
taxes for first responders, civil servants and other city workers needed to
manage this tourism; no, those Charleston cops directing cruise traffic ain’t
workin’ for nothin’.

Robinson gives us a sobering cost/benefits comparison from Victoria,
Canada.  “Although economic benefits are generated by cruise line, passenger and
crew member expenditures, social and environmental costs result from marine
effluents, traffic congestion, traffic noise, road repairs, atmospheric
emissions and public subsidies.  Estimated economic benefits amount to at most
$24 million (Canadian dollars), while estimated costs are at least $28
million.”

Perhaps that’s why Bryan Harrison asks, “Should not the cruise industry be
regulated like the city regulates taxis, the carriage industry, tour buses,
pedicabs and other services that deal with tourism?  Should we think about what
would happen if the number of carriage tours or pedicabs were unlimited? Or if
the waste from the animals that pull the carriages should be allowed without
regulation?”(5)

So what about regulation?  Nope, can’t have that, says Mayor Riley:  “The
port has done a splendid job. We can’t tell them what to do.”(6)

Another question. Why does the cruise terminal have to be downtown?  Many soot, noise,
traffic and congestion impacts on the peninsula would be reduced if the terminal
were moved to Columbus Street, North Charleston or Patriot’s Point.  But the
mayor and the SPA won’t discuss that either.

Tuesday’s Post and Courier pondered if it was Charleston’s
“friendliness” that just won it the top travel destination award, or “was it the
bounty of outstanding restaurants, top-notch hotels, rich history, quaint shops
and overall ambience that catapulted the Holy City to the top, displacing
perennial winner San Francisco, which held the title for 18 years?”(7)   What we
do know is that none of these attributes is all that important for “Fantasy”
passengers sailing off to the Caribbean.Tom Robinson concludes his Mercury
article, “Quality of life for residents in Ansonborough and commuters snarled
in cruise day traffic is an important issue, especially when compared to the
quality of life for a transient day-tourist spending four hours and $44 here.
But this story is about cruise economics. Does quality have a place when
money is a stake?

“Jonathan Tourtellot, founder of National Geographic’s Center for
Sustainable Destinations, believes the real benefit to tourists in the Holy City
is Charleston’s ‘sense of place’… its character, architecture and the deportment
of the historic district. He says, ‘The heavy human footprint of day tourists
can ruin the experience for stay-over visitors.

‘”Tourtellot is empathetic to what city fathers want. ‘I understand Joe Riley’s
impulse to want to fix up an ugly part of the city,’ he admits. ‘But if I were king
of the world, I’d put the home port facility up at Columbus Street, and shuttle people
who really want to visit Charleston into the historic district.'”

–Jay